One Thursday Evening in July

One of my favourite winter pleasures when I am stuck indoors is to look back at summer pictures of the garden .  When it is bleak and cold, and I am wrapped up in thick sweaters with the heating on, thinking of a tummy-warming casserole for dinner, it somehow makes me feel less miserable when I find a particularly sunny batch of pictures.  I had captioned these 'a warm Thursday evening ' and the pictures give a fair indication of what my garden looks like at any given time during the summer.

How would I describe the Rosebank garden? 

Well, it is supposed to be reminiscent of a true cottage garden.  Nothing too fancy, just full of flowers, shrubs and home-grown veg - somewhere that is not too organised  - some might say, a bit of a jumble.  It has a table and chairs on the patio for when I fancy eating out of doors, and a bench at the top of the garden for catching the last of the afternoon sun,  sitting and taking in the colour and fragrance of my surroundings with a view of the open countryside beyond.  It isn't a sophisticated garden that has been designed to within an inch of its life,  but looks as though it should be there.


The red pole was holding up a branch of the plum tree that was overladen with fruit

 Every year the garden looks a little bit different as plantings change and shrubs and perennials grow and mature.  I don't want the garden to be a showcase for plants, just somewhere that I can potter round in a relaxed manner, maybe wander up to the raised beds and pick a lettuce and some tomatoes for lunch or gather a bunch of flowers for the house.

I need the garden to be somewhere that doesn't involve too much work, where I don't  have to worry about the weeds or plants not being in the right place - it needs to be a respite from the pressures of the outside world - a retreat - and a solace for the soul.

I get more pleasure from the garden than anything else - the skills I have acquired over four decades of gardening are instinctive now and this garden, the fifth that I have established, will probably be my final one, as I have no intention of moving any time soon. 

This one is the culmination of all my ideas, and is still a work-in-progress.  Each year I sow different flower and veg seeds according to my whim and fancy, so the garden will never stay the same.  But the backbone is in place, and after that, I can play around all I want.

Some years it looks better than others, some years I am happier with it than others, but however it turns out, everything that is growing is there because I put it there - my little piece of Eden - full of flowers, fruit and vegetables.

My garden may not be as neat and tidy as some, nor as unkempt as others - but it suits me just fine.