China Girl blog

As August slowly edges into late summer, nothing is quite what it seems. Growth has slowed, seeds begin to form and set, the garden is at peace. The light changes, the birds are quiet. Gardening is about making the best of what you have; it is not a natural beauty, but a beauty created by the hand that creates it . It is an illusion made by the hand of man.

The magic that makes a garden is not only the structure, trees and plants. It is also the different moods, they are many and various. The melancholic days of autumn when the leaves fall, even in the rain there is beauty. The early pearly light of winter. The rising mist across the meadow. The anticipation of spring and the ethereal days of glorious summer. Here at Cothay the sense that the evanescent watchers from the past are ever present, evoking a transient romance.

Cardinal Hume once said “Love is an art to be learned. It is a giving experience, a selfless act” As is the making of a garden.