Gardens


Solly Sunflower

Solly Sunflower grew up in the Cotswolds. She came to live in Surrey and had many friends in the beautiful village of Brockham. Times changed and she moved away. Eventually meeting and marrying Bobby Ballcock. “Solly” was consigned to history and she became “Diddley” in a wonderful new life.


Spitalfields Secret Gardens with Eamonn

Secret Gardens Bertie: “What a lovely garden, Eamonn.” Eamonn: “Ah! To be sure it was, Bertie. Tank you for suggesting I go to the open gardens. ‘Twas marvellous to be sure.”


Giant!

Sometimes we go on walking tours with Bob. Not that Bob. Another Bob.


The Darling Buds of May at Laurel Cottage

The man is the book; the book is the man. This incontestable truth, which I often repeat to myself, I claim to be as true of gardens as it is of authors and their books. As a man is, so is his garden. He is a reflection of it. And it of him. For this…


Lily of the Valley

When Estelle (a mindfulness teacher friend of Bobby’s) gave Bobby that single stem of Lily of the Valley, she could never have imagined what memories she would unlock from his far off young days.


Are You An Explorer?

Explorer “Are you an Explorer?” the little girl asked. “I am” said Bobby. “And so are you.”


The Glory of the Garden

The Garden “Well, Bobby. This is our first weekend without football for months. We are off to Wembley next weekend, but today we had a committee meeting and a party in London. Both cancelled due to Covid. The weather is forecast to be glorious. Why don’t we go somewhere beautiful. Somewhere to lift our spirits….


78 Plus One – The Next Day

78 Plus One They woke in the Brick Lane Hub the day after his birthday (“78 plus one“), with the music of the Drifters still ringing in their ears. The Drifters “Under the Boardwalk”.


Daphne on Battlestone Hill

Daphne If you have ‘Smellovision’, you are in luck, for this is the most highly scented blog we have ever written.


Morning Glory

“There’s thirty one this morning, Bobby. That’s a record.” So said Diddley, who absolutely adored the flowers of Morning Glory. Not just for their transient beauty, but also their unusual lifestyle. Flowering profusely, if time and conditions were right, but dying by mid-afternoon. The new buds for the next day readying themselves for their glorious…