March 2023

This is where we say goodbye to Barbara Hepworth.

I had spent a number of years cultivating her but Jenny was never convinced by it.  Which is strange as she is usually quite easy to convince about other things.  For years she has been trying to coerce me into making Barbara into a horse or an elephant and I have resisted, campaigning for modern sculpture.  March is the month I lost the argument.  Barbara had been suffering from a middle age spread that was starting to block the pathway, and once you start cutting it becomes quite difficult to stop.

There was quite a simple reason for my reluctance to cut her – once upon a time we (Jenny) inserted a wire frame into Barbara’s guts for shape.  We can no longer remember what the frame was nor where exactly it is.  We just assumed that it was in the centre but she’s grown a lot and no amount of prodding has revealed the location of said frame, so all arguments were declared null and void.

Bye bye Barbara. I must admit, I’m a bit sad.

The next thing on Jenny’s rampage around the garden was the two weeping cherry that led up to the back door.  If there is one word to describe our gardening (or Jenny’s way of gardening) it would be Brave.  And I have always tried to live by the saying Sharp Saw, Cold Heart when it comes to gardening.  And so, the two cherry’s, who have really struggled to put on a show year after year were put out of their misery.

And, of course, March is the time to plant out your Sweet Pea seeds.  We have them all over the back garden where they have self seeded.  In a strange twist, our pink and red sweet peas have reverted to a dark burgundy.  Most peculiar.  We have purchased some lovely white and pink this year in an attempt to introduce some variety and these have been planted in the Fountain Garden arches and at the base of the Malus floribunda that encircle it.

All in all, it has not been a bad month especially after Summer.  It’s also when all the wonderful seed heads come to the fore.

Autumn is a busy season at Crofton Garden, it’s probably when we are at our most active and I’m sure this year will prove no different…