Wednesday, September 01, 2010

creature, beginning, sweet


Posted by PicasaGoing back to the time when I was photographing things discarded in the street, which seemed to be assuming a status beyond their means, I come across the photo of an abandoned umbrella that looks as though it is resting after a long crawl.

Looking into a basement window, I see a man sitting at a table in his shirt sleeves. He is talking into a telephone. He is on the edge of a world with whom he is trying to communicate.  Just as  there is always something beginning for everyone, everywhere, all the time, something is beginning for him, here and now. For him, and for me, a story about him.

The sweet peas, which I have been cutting throughout the summer,  can no longer boast  the long stems and  self-regarding flowers of their early days. But they are none the worse for that. They smell as sweet and their delicate colours and butterfly shapes, though smaller,  remain untainted and undistorted. In a small vase, their stems bending and twisting over the rim,  look as good, perhaps better, than their confectioned predecessors, beloved of florists and flower arrangers.

3 comments:

The Crow said...

The umbrella reminds me of the Spanish dancer nudibranch.

How interesting - I just cut the last of my sweet peas yesterday. The heat got to most of them this year.

Jane - Grove said...

I really need to learn about sweet peas! I grew some this year for the first time but alas, they only lasted 10 days as I didn't know that not picking them means they go to seed! On the plus side - I have a lot of seed pods....!

Unknown said...

Cheers, Crow.

Jane I am not expert on sweetpeas. But I have grown them enough to know what you are supposed to do. First they need a very rich soil. So lots of compost and lots of water. Second, you are right, they do need to be cut if you want a long flowering period. Third there is a very strict pruning regime if want long stems and big flowers. This is based on removing all but the lead stems, removing the tentacles which normaly cling to bamboos and the like, and tying the stems to the supports instead. My preference is to allow the plants to ramble all over the place, which, as I say,means shorter less spectacular stems.