ZIG ZAGS

Hello all,

The stems of hydrangea in the arrangement, above, caught my attention by their interesting zig zagging form. I chose a container, whose shape reflected the zig zags.

There's a clump of soft rushes, Juncus effuses, around the corner which I see every time I drive past and always think that I should cut some. Yesterday I did. I've always been drawn to graphic designs and I wanted to see what the rushes would allow me to do. My first thought was zig zags. Below are two arrangements that are quite self explanatory. The flowers are crucifix orchids, Epidendrum Radicans.

And now, on to other things. The beef steak begonia, Begoniaerithrophylla, which I grow for the leaves, is looking very healthy in this warm weather. During winter it suffers, which is not surprising given that it is an indoor plant and I have it growing in a pot outside. I particularly like the fibonacci spiral of the leaves and the dark red of their underside. Sadly, that's not visible in the photograph, below,

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In the depths of the very back of the garden I spied a bromeliad, Queens Tears. It is so lovely that it just needed to be placed in a vase. However, its stem is soft and droopy, which necessitated some fixings to stop it from resting on the lip. The leaf is another beef steak begonia.

I'm a little short on content this week because we're in the midst of a heat wave, which affects the plants as well as people. I've been spending hours on watering and protecting sensitive plants from getting cooked. And, as unpleasant as it is for us in the city, my thoughts go to those risking life and limb to fight fires that are destroying our countryside and to those families that are at risk of losing everything.

Bye for now,

Emily