It wouldn't be summer without sunflowers.

25 years ago today we arrived in France to live.

 With my two Labrador dogs in the back of the car

with loads of boxes & bags pushed in to make them safe.

I can still remember driving through northern France

 seeing fields of yellow for miles & miles.

Sunflowers.

It was such a feeling of what summers were going to be like. 

I hoped they would be growing in the fields near where we were going to be living.

and they were.

This is what I see whilst driving to our nearest Boulangerie

or on my way to the hairdressers.

Certainly a joy to see.

I still smile & pinch myself seeing such beauty.

To see so many flowers turning their heads in the same direction facing the sun,

 makes me think of a crowd of sunbathers lying on the beach getting a tan.

Soon they will be harvested and sent to make Sunflower oil. 

In the meantime I'll savour the sunny days.

Enjoy your summer whether you are at home or away on holiday.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Cutting my Lavender

Very soon after I'd been living in France and several weekly visits

 to the local markets, bringing back home the wonderful selection

 of fresh fruit and vegetables in plastic carrier bags.

I realized I needed the right shopping bag, so I bought my French

 style market basket, which as you can see is well worn

as it's been to many markets.

But early this morning before the sun had come up I used it 

along with my well used flat basket 

to carry the freshly cut Lavender from my garden.

I gathered it by the hand-full and tied each bunch with string, to hang

and leave to dry in a dark room hoping it will keep it's lovely blue colour.

 During the day I moved the bunches around the terrace

so that I could enjoy the beautiful aroma.

Each time I touched the flower heads, they release their oil so the scent

 began to float around the terrace, reminding me of my visit to the Provence.

I left a bouquet on the day bed.

Tomorrow I'll be cutting some more

and making some Lavender and ribbon posies.

I'll also be replacing this lavender from last year 

and using it to fill some small cotton bags I've made

 to hang in the guest bedrooms.

I love this time of the year the days are long,

 and the garden is full of

 wonderful perfume from the many different plants.

I'd love to know what you do with your Lavender.

I have a good crop this year so I need lots of new ideas, let me know.

Look forward to your ideas.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Flowers from my garden.

This past week we have had very hot days.

The garden is looking colourful 

so I thought I'd cut some flowers .

A vintage pitcher full of poppy seed head stems from last summer.

A selection of flowers put in a jam jar then placed in a hessian bag.

I added some wild flowers picked from the edge of the lane 

along with a few blooms from my new climbing rose  'Pierre de Ronsard'

A corner of the terrace which I'm always changing.

I very rarely buy flowers,
However I couldn't resist these Rose buds found at a supermarket.

I bought some awhile ago and hung then in a walk in cupboard

and they've dried a lovely faded pink and kept their beautiful scent.

So I plan to do the same again.

are you picking flowers from your garden ?
if you are I'd love to see what how you display them.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Summer is always a busy time.

As always Summertime keeps us busy.

The garden and our summer cottage keeps Mr France and I occupied.

After my surgery last year the garden suffered considerably.

A few weeks ago we had a visit from the person in charge of the committee

for 'Le Concours des Fleurs'/ The Floral competition.
 persuading us to enter le concour  again.

Apparently last year we had been greatly missed by the judges.
Although we always have an abundance of flowers
 in pots and hanging baskets, we agreed to enter the competition again.



I love this corner, as I can change the pots when they look a bit sad
or add some of my collected items found at the brocante  sale.
Which Mr France describes as junk !

So after returning from our short 5 day visit to the U.K.
visiting friends and family, we were frantically putting
together baskets and troughs, to adorn the terrace and windowsills,
which is the category we are entered in.

Here's a few we have done and now hanging from the terrace.

These geraniums I managed to over winter from last summer.
and just added a few other plants to fill in the gaps.

Window troughs or boxes as they are known as in England
are always a pretty way to brighten up the front of the cottage.

Our new roses planted in the Spring are flowering nicely.
If you'd like to wander around my garden with me,
come back soon and enjoy seeing what's growing
 where I live in rural France.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

An Easter Posy for afternoon tea time

Sit and enjoy your afternoon tea time posy

sent to you from France.

 A pretty posy from my garden

 in a pretty cup.

 to wish you Happy Easter 

Just a greeting from my home in France to your home

where ever you might be.

I hope my posy helped to brighten up your day.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Just Looking

 It's not very often we take this route, but how happy I am we did. 

Joy for my eyes , look what I found .

It's only a 25 min. drive south from where we live
but it's amazing how much warmer it is.
The temperature is always a few degrees higher.
which means the blossom is more advanced than where I live.
.

Then we took a detour to our daughters house and I was even happier
as we found a garden center which had opened last year
I spent most of my time inside .
I was in awe of the beautiful Camellias.

I hope you like Camellias, as there were so many I couldn't stop clicking.

and before I realised that the battery was running low

 on my camera, I had spent all my time photographing them. 

Outside were rows of shrubs,
Each row had a sign showing the type of shrub and where to plant them.

Easy to grow.

Climbing plants suitable for walls and arbours

I was very tempted to buy a Clematis, but as I hadn't done any research
on them, to know which one to choose, I resisted temptation
for the next visit, which I know will be soon.

So a few more different Camellias to show you.
I hadn't realised there were so many varieties.

My only disappointment with these flowers
is they don't last very long.
If they get caught by early morning frost they turn brown
and they don't like wind and rain.
Which seems to have been our type of Spring weather

I have one in my garden which is struggling,

apparently due to all the things they don't like.

Now after the expert advice I was given by the owner

 of the garden center, I need to move it, after it's finished flowering.

It was planted last year, when my heart was not into gardening.

I thought I'd chosen a good position for it, but apparently not.

Also we do have very acid soil, due to the hundreds of pine trees

that were growing here when we bought the property.

So I need to correct that, when I find a suitable place to replant it.

But not just yet, it will have to wait, as I have climbing roses 

waiting patiently to be planted and grow up the new arbour.

If it's stopped raining tomorrow, I'll take a photo to show you.

It will be like  ''before and after.''

 What ever you are doing in your garden

Enjoy your planting.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

It hasn't stopped raining, but I did what I said I'd do.
I took this photo, to let you see my pitiful Camellia. 
As I say I'm not a gardener and we all make mistakes.
It wasn't a plant I bought myself, as  I know all the difficulties
of growing a good plant  (it was a prize ) from our Floral competition.
Yes you did read that correctly  a prize. But I do grow lovely
hanging baskets.
.

The flowers were battered even more during the night

This is my Camellia looking very sad, waiting to be moved.