My mama just surprised me with (very) early birthday presents … so she didn’t have to look after them until then!
She bought me three David Austen roses.
I love roses, they are my favourite flower. Now, my mum makes a point about not buying plants for their names (I try not to, but I am a bit of a sucker for a good name on a label), but this time she completely changed her tune. She bought me a light pink, gorgeous smelling one with little petals called ‘Desdemona’. This is the name of one of our pet ducks. Then I unwrapped another one called ‘Gentle Hermione’, another light pink one with larger flowers. This is the name of our other pet duck. I opened the third one, unsure what to find (as we had run out of duck names by this point) and was amazed to read a label saying ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. Whoever named this rose as dark red as strawberries that, is a hero.
(Little explanation: ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ is one of Thomas Hardy’s most brilliant novels that I recently re-read for my English literature Victorian course a few months ago and loved it just as much as the first time I read it. Honestly, it is probably one of the causes for my obsession with cows, farming and the Dorset countryside… But back to Tess: she is a tragic heroine who is disgraced in the eyes of society and therefore unable to find peace and happiness. It is a beautiful book and one I highly recommend for anyone who likes Victorian fiction. And yes, the strawberries and colour red is one of those big symbols that pop up throughout the narrative. Red=blood=loss of purity/murder etc…).
We also got given a big (I mean BIG) pile of strawberry plants from our neighbour in return for looking after her veggie garden for a week in this massive heatwave going on. So, planting it is…
The Kitchen Garden Blog 