I rise early, and am met at the bedroom door by Miss Callie and Caspar, eager for the day to start. After turning on the coffee and the computer, and opening up all the doors and windows to the cool morning air, Caspar and I venture out for our morning walk. We peer into the jungle as we pass and assess all the piles of deadheaded flowers and stalks that are a result of last night's orderly march down the garden path, snipping and shearing as I went.

After returning Caspar into the house I retrieve the wheelbarrow and start clearing the debris. What is left gives me some pleasure, and here are a few pictures I took before the sun came up and the temperature suddenly rose from 17C to 30C at eight o'clock.

The pots that surround the little patio are refreshed by their morning watering.




The sweet peas that climb the fence on the other side of the patio are growing ever more robust, and although they don't have the fragrance of the annual sweet pea that I remember growing so tall and beautiful on the prairies, they do have an air about them that is pleasing and subtle.


Here is a sunflower with an interesting face, - the gorgeous green in the centre is a wonderful foil for the colours that surround it.

This baby is a reasonable size, but as we move into the back border the jungle takes over, and here are the sunflowers that grew too fast for me to thin, splendid as they tower over the more civilized flowers in the garden.













Like the roses, that are just now into their second flush and looking fresh and pristine in the coolness of the morning.

By afternoon the garden will bear a rather harried look as it tries to cope with this intense heat we are having.

While I wander around I mentally note the Europa Rose and an especially fragrant lily lost among the shadows of the sunflowers and the barn flower, - why did I think that the barn flower which only grew about four feet high last year would stay at that unnatural height. I make a note to move it to a spot in the back garden and let the Europa have its place beside the pathway.

And that Sea Holly that was such a modest and well behaved plant last year has spread its children around its feet and grown at least five feet high.

A garden is a lovesome thing, God Wot, - but it is also a humbling teacher, even as age is supposed to bring you Wisdom.

Never mind, even jungles are inspiring, - especially if the lions and tigers that lurk there are just a little tortoise shell cat and a dapper old dog. And an "older" lady with her hoe and snippers!