Memories of Alfred and Marianne.

It has been so wet here recently that walking out on the grass gives you that horrible, squelchy feeling underfoot. I really dislike the sensation (you know, senses are so important - but I digress). It's also that time of the year when the summer blooms are wilting, with the hanging baskets starting to look a little worse for wear. I took a little stroll in the back garden this evening to assess the damage there, and was pleasantly surprised; there was the usual heady scent of lavender; but some pretty violas were having a final, glorious hurrah!, my eucalyptus is thriving as is my honeysuckle, but more excitingly, a rose bush that I had seriously lost confidence in has decided to bloom and restore my faith in my (faintly) green fingers.

Roses remind me of my paternal granddad; he was a master rose grower, no matter when I visited, he had a beautiful rose in bloom without a black spot in sight. He was an amazing man, who died a week after my eldest was born, and after whom my eldest is named. I took a single rose for my sweet little cuttings jug; and some eucalyptus and lavender stems for the hallway. As you can see, I have absolutely no arranging skills whatsoever; but I'm enjoying looking at the silvery leaves in the distance.

In other news, the sweet pea, which I cultivated in the kitchen window, and failed to relocate with its brothers and sisters in the garden, is in bloom. To be honest, I'm quite glad to have a bit of floral company in the kitchen; and sweetpeas remind me so much of my maternal granny, who always grew a wall of them in her garden. It's quite fitting for it to be in the kitchen, she was a fantastic cook, particularly baking - she made the tastiest food from the simplest ingredients. She always believed in the freshest ingredients. Good night and god bless, Granny C and Granddad M.

Do particular flowers remind you of a loved one?

How does your garden grow?

I have always loved the garden - when I was a little girl, we had a good-sized garden with different areas - a big lawn great for obstacle courses in the summer (or a mock tennis court when Wimbledon was on); a secret stony path great for a young imagination, a horrible nettly weedy area which our tennis balls always seemed to end up; and a veggie patch which eventually became more lawn when my dad's back and enthusiasm waned. As children, we practically spent all our summers outside, and we were glad of it. I feel sorry for kids nowadays - I think computers and gadgets are wonderful (obviously) but they do restrict children's experiences.

Now that I'm married and have a house of my own, I have my own garden. As a child, I wasn't that fussed about plants and gardening - except the pea and tomato plants. But I love my little patch now - my garden is about 1/5th the size of my parents; but I don't mind - work means a bigger garden would be too much to manage. I love to get out and see what's growing and changing; most of the time I haven't much of a clue what I'm doing, but I am learning (gradually). This year hasn't been easy because of the weather (and the small matter of having a baby at the end of March), but even still, I've made a little progress.

There were some delights in the garden before i started - a lovely tree, a delightful clematis and some nice landscaping. I have grown a lovely dogwood, a nice eucalyptus bush which is starting to flourish, some lovely lupins and lavenders. My herb bucket is doing well and my baskets and pots are pretty this year. I have some disasters - my roses are still poor after three years and I can't grow lily of the valley for toffee - my camelia seems to have bit the dust aswell after a lack of attention over the winter; but you can't have everything. I have managed to encourage my eldest son (3) to plant and watch seeds grow - we are transferring some sweet peas this week; and I'm glad to say he is starting to love his little patch as much as I did. It's a promising start.