Giants

The garden is standing tall. In the front herb garden, the fennel has reached 5ft. The flower heads are opening into brilliant yellow umbrels. They soar far above the mauves & purples of the lavender.

In the back it's time for creamy candelabra. These huge spikes of creamy flowers are the yuccas. We have three yuccas altogether so the number of candlelabra is impressive. The two at the front are easy to see. The one at the back, the mother of the other two I suspect, can just be seen towering over the evergreen bushes that characterise the central rockery area of our garden.

We spent part of yesterday looking at bog plants on the Net. We fancy some giants at the back of the bed, to hide the rather ugly sheds next door. Gunnera is undoubtedly big enough. A bold statement plant. It seems fashionable at the moment but we're both agreed that we find it rather ugly, too much like giant rhubarb, not our favourite food. But Goat's Beard, Joe Pye Weed or Ligularia is much more to our taste. We used to have a fabulous blue hydrangea at the far end of the garden. That must have grown to 6ft. It was certainly taller than me. If we could find that variety we would be tempted. We're still thinking & deciding.

After a brief break, our sudden bout of decisiveness with the kitchen selections has once more evaporated. We're back to taking our time.