Villiers Street on the left. Behind, you Embankment Gardens.
A packet of seeds from Germany suffice for a tray of seedlings. Planted out today they make two fine rows. And there are still some left over to put in pots under the hedge where we grow most of our herbs for daily use. Böhnenkraut? It took me some time to discover that in English it is summer savory (winter savory, a perrenial is easier to grow but less aromatic). And what do you use it for? According to Heidi greengrocers in Germany throw in a bunch whenever you buy fresh beans. Hence the title which means litterally 'bean cabbage'. My herb book maintains that among its medicinal properties is use as an aphrodisiac.
Not the first time I have mentioned it here. On the corner of Grove Avenue just coming into bloom is a waterfall of white wisteria. The tips of the inflorescences are still a modest green, but the white blossom predominates adding to the effect of a cool and busy cataract flowing down the side of a house.
2 comments:
A good thing to see wisteria being treated neutrally. It is frequently used as a touchstone for rural duplicity: a building (a pension, restaurant or pub) which looks sentimentally pretty on the outside and turns out to be a profound disappointment inside.
I remember being jeered at for using printed guides (The GFG or the Logis guide in France) since these were thought to detract from the "free spirit" approach to nutrition and accommodation. My thesis was that free spirits are reduced to judging places from the outside alone: and were therefore subject to the so-called wisteria effect.
A treacherous quality of wisteria is the relatively short time that it remains in flower. When the blossoms are over no more than a tedious green creeper is left to give the lie to the photographic you refer to.
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