Where Did They Spring From?!
Now the clocks have gone back, and the nights are drawing in - and getting longer - any flowers left blooming seem to be hanging on "by a thread," as though unwilling to give up until they absolutely have to.
Outside the kitchen window, there are 5 flower basket hangers, that have done so well over the summer and autumn; there have been displays of pink primulas and yellow primulas - although the latter basket seemed to be more keen on producing a show of copious green leaves, rather than shy flowers! - and a basket of germaniums in glorious red also produced a great show.
Just when we thought the geraniums were over, and their leaves were fading fast, I suddenly noticed a couple of sturdy new shoots coming up, with lots of buds on them! and sure enough, they have continued to grow and blossom, even with the weather turning colder and wetter, and every plant in the garden taking a battering from Storm Arwen that swept down from the north recently.
However, the greatest surprise has been the violas. Always great value for an energetic display, their little smiling faces were also "going over" in their basket, but then I saw a tiny flower peeking over the rim of the next basket along - the one that had no primulas left, just a few fading primula leaves - and yet here was a defiant little stem of viola, nodding in the breeze, looking for all the world as if it had been originally planted there.
A smiling pussy-cat face!
A day or two later, I saw another viola appear - on the other side of the primula basket - and the question was, how did they get there? Were they transmitted by birds, or did the wind blow seedlings across? I shall have to find out, and it just shows how determined some plants are to flourish and do well, even in adverse circumstances.
Because they are tiny, the violas can bend and bow with the wind, and I hope will survive for some longer time. They make us think of spring and summer again, and in these cold, dark days, are a rainbow of delight and hope.
