COLINTON GARDEN CLUB NEWSLETTER NO 67 August 2004

"This is the weather the shepherd shuns,
And so do I;
When beeches drip in brown and duns,
And thresh, and ply;
And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe,
And meadow rivulets overflow,"

from Thomas Hardy, "Weathers".

It is high summer in Colinton but I wonder does it have pretensions to be Kashmir, this season? The gardens, certainly, appear to be located in more exotic climes. After the monsoon rain which we have experienced, the lawns positively steam; the phormiums send out hard brown spiky flowerheads and the crocosmia blazes in the borders.

On 10 July, Club members sallied forth to visit Charles Jencks’ garden and Cally garden in Dumfriesshire. As we arrived, the heavens opened and blessed us with another typical tropical downpour. Undaunted, but with the enthusiastic guidance of the gardener, we wandered among the curves and swirls of the landscape, hedges and water; gazed at the towering architectural cascade; marvelled at the symbolic sculptures and the new red painted railway bridge designed to make a new statement over the Nith.

We climbed the sinuous snake mound and trailed up the glistening circling paths of the snail mound to view the slug lakes below. While the vision is an attempt to simulate the cosmic patterns of the universe, there are playful elements in the work of this great garden architect which were particularly evident in the knot garden with its drunken path, sculpture and planting to symbolise the five senses with a sixth superwoman sense of intuition. Members could be seen puzzling and trying to read the “upside down” carved words “Symmetry” and “Ambiguity” which could be read back to front.
I am delighted to report that no member was lost down the Black Hole. Just as we left, the sun came out and the purfect black cat delicately walked along the chequerboard-tiled path and settled itself on a perfect black square.

In the afternoon, the sun shone and, like the cat, we sat and relaxed, basking in the warmth and glorious colours and perfumes of the walled gardens at Cally. Unable to resist the charms of the unusual plants on sale there, many succumbed to desire and it is to be hoped that, eventually, some cuttings may find their way to future Garden Club sales.

The day was lengthy but it was indeed "a great adventure". I would like to thank those members of the Committee who made tremendous efforts in researching, planning and organising this trip.

Sadly, this was Pam Hume's last event as leader of the Garden Club. She has left us to start a new garden and a new life in Dundee. She has made an enormous contribution to the Club and will be greatly missed. However, she has promised to keep in contact and we do have plans for a future Garden Club outing to a newly established garden north of the Tay!?

As I take up the baton and start on the track of a new term of office, I am delighted to be "running again" (albeit for a short period only) and with such an excellent support team. They have organised a wonderful programme of talks and events for winter and spring. I look forward to welcoming existing members and new members to future meetings.

Isobel Lodge, Chairperson

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