The hedgehog and the rhododendron
I am happy to report that the alchemilla, cruelly buried by Roger the fence man, is now back in the land of the living.
The return of the Alchemilla
Today is the two-year anniversary of Dave’s death, so I went to Bourne Buildings to buy a stone animal to mark the occasion. Marty, who was a good friend of Dave and has now become my friend, suggested that a hedgehog would be appropriate, to commemorate all the hedgehogs which died a watery death in Dave’s ponds over the years. (Dave did not mean the hedgehogs to drown in his ponds; it was just that there was something about his ponds that they found irresistible).
And then I planted a rhododendron, just like last year.
The hedgehog and the rhododendron ' Marcel Menard'
And then it started hailing, so I went inside, and when the sun came out again I posed for a photograph. It was quite hard to compose a picture that didn’t have bits of magnolia in front of my face, but eventually I managed it.
The hedgehog and the rhododendron with me
I am pleased to note that last year’s rhododendron is flowering very nicely. I had been afraid that it was turning out to be as lazy* as Dave, and wasn’t going to bother.
Hardworking rhododendron planted in memory of Dave in April 2011
The rhododendron that I planted today is one of the plants I ordered from J Parkers. It will get very big if I let it, and I think I may swap the frog, which is too big for its rhododendron partner, with the hedgehog, in due course.
*For 'lazy' read 'laid-back and easygoing'.
There is no night without a dawning. No winter without a spring.
– Helen Steiner Rice