Hidden Treasures

Late summer lingers in my garden, but the overgrown fernery and potting area is shaded by an excess of Giant Burmese honeysuckle that offers a cool wilderness and welcome respite from the heat. The honeysuckle was unearthed in the compost heap of an old Victorian camping site almost thirty years ago; today, those purloined cuttings have spread into a glossy wilderness of shadowy protection, ideal for today’s re-potting of summer seedlings.

Variegated Apple-Mint has sprawled its leggy growth across a number of old pots, spreading new roots into various shallow pockets of healthy propagation. Iced mint tea would be a delightful respite, but the fragrant herbs sprouting around my finger tips are refreshment enough at this time. A sprawl of furred peppermint geranium extends velvety leaves to my fingertips … its fragrant growth wanders into shadowy crevices beneath the propagation tables, and I hasten to press visible, fragile roots beneath any pockets of damp earth. In this damp, neglected corner of the garden, surprises sprawl as fragrant perennial basil cuttings have also escaped their starter pots. Memories of my grandmother’s old fernery merge with the discovery of creeping salad burnet plants and the delight of tasting the fresh wilderness of nutty salad burnet leaves. Suddenly, I notice, nearby, a leggy mass of greyish-green, aromatic foliage. Dense spikes of tiny, fragrant, lavender-blue flowers. This is a lavender to delight, Lavender Bosisto … it has been neglected, but what a delightful survivor … definitely another hidden treasure.