I’ve gone a bit “hello trees, hello flowers” today… Everything’s coming up roses – literally. The garden’s starting to bloom, the field is full of flowers, the insects are buzzing, the frogs are flirting outrageously with each other…
In the spirit of properly getting back to nature (or, more accurately, getting into nature as 9 years of living in London hasn’t exactly qualified as a rural existence…), I even swotted up after my ramble and found out the names of (almost) everything (well, I asked Orlando, but he is the horticultural oracle). So, my apologies to those of you who could identify these in the blink of an eye, but if you’re as mystified by these things as I was, I’ll name the flora and fauna, starting from the top left photo: Ragged Robbin; Buddha’s Hand (lemon tree); iris; orchid purpurea, ie lady orchid; rose de Docteur Jalmain; white wisteria; lizard; fumitory; clover; the view of Le Manoir de Raynaudes (with Camillière church in the background) from the top corner of the field; scabius; tongue orchid; rosa odorata; wild flower in the woods (but we don’t know it’s name); frog sunbathing on what he thinks is a lily pad in the pool; the chive flowers.
After all this being at one with the elements, I am steeling myself for a dip in the pool – if the frogs can stand the cold, then so can I. And, as it’s my day off, I shall then go and warm up with a glass of Gaillac wine in a local bar, watching the sun go down and listening to the sound of crickets and amorous frogs…
