The summer before last I pulled out yet another dead
climbing plant from the pot on our terrace. I can’t even remember what it was,
so lacking in any redeeming qualities was it. Caroline and I then went to a
garden centre in Ierapetra and talked to the Dutch lady running it. She came up
with a plant right for the climate of Papagianades, that shed its leaves in the
winter so wouldn’t require watering and produced beautiful flowers.
Last spring we watched it put out its first leaves of that
year and spread up the trellis. But the thing flowered in August so we never
got to see that, what with tumours and bowel cancer intervening. Now it is
flowering.
So, here are the flowers Caroline never got to see. I’ll
keep the plant, even though I feel sad and angry every time I look at it. But life moves inexorably on...
6 comments:
Can we get a close up of the blooms macro style? Is it a Honeysuckle or Clematis of some description? Trumpet flowers, pinnate leaves quite a woody stem. Appreciate the angst, but it does look nice in that light.
Lovely, Neal.
I'm sure Caroline would sooner you smiled.
Beautiful.
A fitting memorial.
Port St Johns Creeper, Podranea ricasoliana, if I'm not mistaken. Ideal for your climate in Crete.
I enjoyed your last novel (Jupiter War) such that I went online and stumbled across this blog. I am very sorry for your loss Mr. Asher. I cannot say that I know what you are going through, but I certainly feel badly that you have lost someone so important. May fond memories buoy you up during trying times.
Best regards,
Chris Papworth (just some random guy in Canada that has read all of your works that he can find)
Post a Comment