this summer. Sometimes there are surprises. Both


Alex and Judy will secretly plant a new bulb or two and then when spring comes each is quite sure that the lovely thing that just came up was their own surprise. It doesn’t matter. They are both surprised and it’s all part of the delight. Sometimes Judy will surrepti- tiously thin out an aggressive plant that Alex loves and sometimes he will do the same. (‘We both do sneaky things,” confesses Judy.) They garden in harmo- ny in spite of this and their efforts prob- ably help keep the wonderful balance that exists there now. Judy and Alex are travel writers and


Above: Judy in her fall garden examining a rose mallow, basically, a large hibiscus.


Above left: the pond in summer with a giant koi outshining the goldfish. Right inset: snowdrops in January.


The split rail fence provides a foil for the scilla and daffodils. Beyond this, the birch grove harbours wild flowers in both spring and summer.


photographers. Alex wrote a wine column for 35 years but that segued into travel articles and Judy takes the photo- graphs: travel and wildlife but mostly birds. They are away a lot, so they have the water sensitive plants hooked up to a timer-governed watering system. These are largely plants that Judy brings out for a summer holiday: the elephant ears and begonia, the bayleaf and the olive plants, the coffee and the kumquat. “I like to share my plants with friends


like my mother and friends shared with me when we moved here. We have a cottage but prefer to stay here when everyone goes north. When people come and stand at the end of the prop- erty looking in, we invite them in. Our garden is not manicured or perfect, but we have lots of nature here. The rabbit always nests under the beech or the Russian spruce. There are chipmunks and bats and too many squirrels,” Judy says. And of course there is Judy’s friend, the resident screech owl. They don’t worry about weeds. They


grow plants to attract butterflies and dragon flies. Some of the plants remind them of lovely trips to faraway places – the olive from Italy, the echeverria from Chile, and so on. The garden is their refuge. It was a


great comfort when Alex was ill and it is where they celebrate special occasions, relaxing with family and friends. The patio heater extends the season and they have even been known to sit outside in the winter by the fire in the chiminea. “We didn’t plan a garden for others to


look at,” says Judy. “We never thought it was very special. It’s just something we do and enjoy.” She adds, “It’s good to look at it from


a visitor’s eye and then, as we notice more, we don’t take it for granted and realize that we have something we love and that we can be proud of.” She is so right. V


www.localgardener.net SPRING 2013 11


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