Karyn and Pierre are getting married today. Covid-19 or not, today is the day! I have been picking flowers to take to the wedding so we can throw it as confetti. I'm not privy to the bridal party and possibly too old to be a flower-girl, but I can't let all those pelargoniums go to waste. She's marrying in church and there will be refreshments afterward.
It's Labour Weekend and I've just had a message from the govt to stay safe. Other than the wedding, I'm not planning on going anywhere, recovering from school by having peace and quiet time is my thing. I've been reading a book called 'Frensham' a New Zealand country garden, down in Canterbury. The owner, Margaret has produced a book about a year in her garden. I wonder how it is gardening in the South Island, when it's at it's best only for 2-3 months of the year from September to November. They get beautiful autumn foliage, but then it's snow and ice in winter and the garden looks bare. They can't grow tropical plants or succulents. No bananas, feijoas, taro, or pohutuakawas!
The only thing about reading 'high class' gardening books I find is a bit of garden envy. I can't just plant a row of trees in my 600 metre square section of New Gardenland. No drifts of daffodils or hornbeam hedges. I can't divide the garden into 'rooms' because there's no room for rooms! I have to scale it down to the cracks in the driveway - parsley is growing out of those.
Speaking of books, sister has sent me a book called 'Kew's Global Kitchen Cookbook' 101 recipes using edible plants from around the world. Mum was of course immediately derisive. "You can't cook, you never do any cooking". She is constantly saying I 'always' or 'never' do anything. Sometimes in the same sentence.
I have strong suspicion that Kew Garden really wants world domination over all the plants around the globe. It's like some botanical maniacs were obssessively collecting every single specimen, classifying and labelling it, to become the institution that it is, and then trying to stop everyone else from growing their own plants in case they get a bigger collection. I mean what have they done to the cycads in Madagascar, now one botanical collector has it, displayed in their million pound heated glass cabinet house, everyone else wants one, so that in Madagascar there are hardly any left that people haven't dug up to show off in their Grand Designs home.
Personally I find it's pompousness a bit hypocritical, thinking its should be the world's authority on the entire planet's plant life, saying 9 billion people need to be fed and it's the one to do it, because, supposedly, it's got the monopoly on 'global food markets'. Still acting like the imperial tyrant that it is, naming and shaming plants and trying to grow and breed them to fit in with their economy - it's indirectly responsible for all the plastic covered strawberry fields and tomato hot houses in Almeria Spain. Just because some Brits need a tomato in their Jamie Oliver inspired mediterraenean style salad, out of season because tomatoes won't grow there. Or more strawberries with their Pimms.
I won't let it spoil things though, the sun is shining and it's a good day to be marrying (for Karyn) and a good day to be free (for me).
