Quotidian

Growing garlic

Over the years I have grown leeks, onions, shallots, alliums and chives but it is only recently that I have started to cultivate another member of that bulbous and pungent family. Like so many things, it started with Gardener’s World on the BBC and a demonstration of how to grow this nowadays ubiquitous kitchen necessity: garlic.

The method looked simple, so in October 2020 I decided to have a go myself. When no one was looking I filched a couple of healthy looking bulbs from the vegetable rack and divided them into separate cloves. In a nicely raked section at the end of a raised bed I planted two rows, placing the cloves about three inches down and covering them over. Quite simple.

Garden exotica

I readily admit that I am no plantsman. I’m simply an untutored gardener who frequently struggles to remember Latin names, or even many of the common ones. In general my approach to the garden is to create an emotional effect that stirs the spirit. I’m interested in the full symphony rather more than its constituent parts. More focussed on the overall look and atmosphere, than any specific plant within it.

But on a June weekend in 2021 it was a real pleasure to have a close encounter with two particular specimens, where I not only know the names, but which also have a distinctly exotic air that adds to the overall feel of the place. Examining them close up enhanced my appreciation of their beauty, but also piqued my interest in their particular botanical features. As it turned out, each of them has its own curious story of origins, associations and idiosyncrasies.

Both are forms of lily.

Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 5: Spring Fling

Nithsdale is vibrant with Spring at its full height. Andrew keeps up his interest in the local art robbery, though the police investigation appears to have stalled. Anne-Marie and her band have huge success at an arts festival concert, but she upsets Caitlin and her own mother by making plans to spend a weekend with Michael, touring the open studios weekend. Meanwhile, if the trio have been mistaken in their suspicions about the locus of a second art robbery in the region, it doesn’t mean that one is not being planned.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: In this story I mix up and blur chronologies, geographies and biographies. Any resemblance to a person living or dead is purely coincidental. The 12 chapters of the novel Epiphanies and Robberies appeared sequentially throughout 2023. They have now been re-drafted and are in search of a publisher.

The novel also has a playlist to enjoy, you can find it here: http://open.spotify.com/playlist/0XSzB1w8hfrRPUBzs4KFNF?si=JkkDbGmRQM2WeHjcOrFO

Meconopsis magic

The Himalayan Blue Poppy, Meconopsis, has a special place in my gardening affections.

In years past I sometimes bought them at the garden centre. Alive, vigorous and ready to flower at the time of purchase, in the autumn they would disappear into the ground, never to return. In retrospect I think they were planted in thin soil and prone to dry out in summer.

The Infinity Pool

The pool sits high above the loch. Find the correct vantage point and the two waters merge into one. On the far side, pebbly beaches, scrubby woodland, and low hills. Above them, long wisps of white cirrus that streak the cobalt blue sky.

It’s a luminous May afternoon in Argyll and the holiday weekend is well underway. I stretch out after the journey here, easing my limbs in the warmth, shaking off the mental clutter.

Young children with parents and grandparents splash and play. Glasgow voices joke and chat. People in the sunshine, enjoying the moment, free to have fun.

The Camassia: from Pacific North West to Scottish South West

As a student of anthropology in the early 1970s, I still remember some classes we had on the phenomenon known as Potlatch. Part of the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific North West, it relates to large gatherings in which alongside story telling and feasting, a special emphasis is placed on the conspicuous display of wealth and largesse, in some cases even the destruction of valuable possessions in order to demonstrate one’s high status in the community.

I have often thought of the parallels between these practices and the ‘conspicuous consumption’ so prevalent in Western culture. But until now I had no idea there was a link between the Potlatch and the world of horticulture, and in particular my own Dumfriesshire garden.

What’s in a place-name? An interview with Colin Mackenzie

This latest interview in my series about creative and inspiring people living in Dumfries and Galloway, is someone I have never met. Indeed, when I contacted him earlier this year, he informed me that he was about to leave his home region and relocate to Orkney. So I’m looking forward to meeting with him in person some day – in one or other of those places.

Colin is a primary school teacher, a linguist and an expert on place-names, a field of study known as toponymy. Using a variety of methods and new programs for studying maps he has built up a remarkable knowledge of the place-names and associated stories of Dumfries and Galloway.

He is highly trained in his area of study and holds a PhD, but his research is a labour of love that he works on alongside his ‘day job’ and he has eschewed any thought of a university career. He is the kind of person who makes the world a richer place, but seeks no particular reward or recognition in doing so. He has harnessed modern social media for the best of reasons – to share in detail what he has learned about the names of places that are all around us.

Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 4: The Devil’s Stone

Andrew is drawn further into the mystery of the art robbery. He receives a visit from Detective Constable Logan Harris of CID, warning him of the dangers of amateur sleuthing, but undeterred, continues with his enquiries. Meanwhile Anne-Marie, busy with her new composition and a prestigious upcoming concert, thinks she has spotted the perps and has an idea of where they will strike next. For Michael, his personal problems are spiralling downwards, as it appears that his estranged wife Esme, has found a new partner.

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The novel also has a playlist to enjoy, you can find it here: http://open.spotify.com/playlist/0XSzB1w8hfrRPUBzs4KFNF?si=JkkDbGmRQM2WeHjcOrFO

The epimedium – understated elegance for all seasons

One of the hallmarks of my plant choosing habits is an attraction to anything that has what I consider to be an ‘old fashioned’ look about it. I shy away from sappy, gaudy overly hybridized and commercially tampered with plants of all kinds. By contrast I am drawn to things that look like they have always been there, plants with a quiet appeal, an element of toughness, and in particular those which will give interest over the longue durée.

About 10 years ago whilst browsing in the plant section of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, I came across something that met my criteria exactly. Glossy, spear-shaped leaves on thin, wiry stems, with what looked like a spreading habit and just a hint that rich green might turn a warmer colour come the autumn. As I waited to pay, my friend and I looked at the label and immediately lapsed into schoolboy humour. The lovely horticultural specimen I was just about to buy was called an epimedium, something we found inexplicably funny, and still recall with some affection to this day.

More important though, was the ‘discovery’ of a new plant, which would come to be much enjoyed and in time have a more prominent place in the Dumfriesshire garden.

Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 3: Tracks and Trains

Michael introduces Andrew to some of the environmental issues affecting the local area. Out on the nearby hill tops, Michael also shares some of his personal problems. Anne-Marie presses on with her special new composition, to be called Calendarium, and the long awaited re-opening of Kirkgate railway station takes place on the 15th of March. But that same day thieves strike at the Nithsdale home of a wealthy rock musician. Valuable art works have been stolen! Andrew is quickly drawn to the case and spots a tell tale photograph in the local paper, that might just hold a clue to what has happened.

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The novel also has a playlist to enjoy, you can find it here: http://open.spotify.com/playlist/0XSzB1w8hfrRPUBzs4KFNF?si=JkkDbGmRQM2WeHjcOrFO