But it is important to enjoy fleeting moments of perfection. It is also an excuse to post another of Shakespeare's sonnets (which is not really about horticulture despite the first couple of lines).
Sonnet 15
When I consider everything that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and check'd even by the selfsame sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night;
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.
There's nothing prettier than a vase of cut tulips. True, they don't last long, but I love how the stems seem to reach and bend in the warm house.
ReplyDeleteI love the waywardness of tulips too. And they come in such huge variety of colours. I hope lambing still going well
ReplyDeleteTulips are wonderful. I seem to remember a trick where you poke a wee hole in the stem just below the bloom and this helps to keep them up, also cutting the stems regularly and giving fresh water.
ReplyDeleteLove the sonnet, now I understand what happened to my day of youth! Being engrafted new sounds like a good remedy for a senior.
They are a credit to you. Beautiful flowers. A great sonnet too.
ReplyDeleteAn appropriate sonnet for these times Philip. Tulips are lovely, distinctive flowers but as you say they tend to bend over too quickly - like fags in a public school. It's funny how in past times they were prized like gold - tulips I mean, not fags in a public school!
ReplyDeletePossibly a simile that would have appealed to Shakespeare.
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