Running Wild

when we look for that freedom of planting  and subtle touch of colour and texture we really need look no further than some of the planting schemes devised by nature herself .

On the beach on the fringes of Napier, New Zealand , we saw some of the most wonderful combinations and hues artlessly put together without any hand of man involved. It is for this artless and effortless beauty that we all strive.

Some of the flowers would open but fleetingly during the day in the sunshine giving a totally different scene if you happened upon them later in the day.

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Tea for three or more!

Want to make friends, then why not share a pot of beautiful fresh herb tea ! We have a range of fresh grown herbal teas to tantalise the palate and perk up the dulled senses .

Growing on our teashop terrace ,we can nip out and pick the freshest of tips for your pot of delight. Now you read before about the steamy sweaty camels and bedazzled camel drovers …so time for a new tale…

Run your fingers through the glossy stems of our fresh mints …what about the luscious chocolate peppermint ? Smooth  ,seductive and sensual.Rolls into your mouth like a melted After Eight.. The type of After Eight eaten in bed with a wanton lover..and melted on your pillow . The type of After Eight forgotten after a late dinner party but found lurking secretly in the box and eaten with subterfuge and secret glee.The type of After Eight slipped into a leather glove and carried away to a smugglers den where general carousing and making merry may be happening with riotous abandon.You know the type of scene- buxom,garralous serving wench,handsome highwayman with a swagger and a lascivious smile,all tight leather pants and a glint in his eye,and an accommodating dry cleaner.What about the charming rustic , all corduroy and sweaty singlet and a can of coke in his pocket ? Just ready for that advertising break.Or the handsome man of mystery, floral chemise,cravat and oh so  creased linen suit -dragged through a haystack with the boys and then took a ride on the hay wagon .

So we  too can be  the wild rovers of taste, the robin hoods  of  flavour and the buccaneers of  balm .We are the prairie tea queens !

 

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Burn Baby Burn : Prairie Inferno

burns day !

when everything comes together perfectly in a crescendo of good drying weather and a wicked wind we get a ‘burnin ‘! yesterday with our trusty squad of Friends of Sussex Prairies we made a huge impact on the big border with burning squads , cutters,snappers and fire feeders. Exhileration and wild abandon as flames licked and roared and caressed the garden all at once. Gradually we worked through the groups of tinder dry stalks and seedheads… The grasses are the best to catch alight but still have green in them which is unheard of normally at this time of year when all should be sepia tones and black and white through repeated frosts and winter squalls. You soon get to know which plants are the best kindling pieces, which plants are a soggy mess and which plants are Ray Mears dream. Bush tracker skills live in action as swathes of the garden burn in fury and fearsome fervour !

the fire captain Paul

Now , it is not so good on your face , this burning lark . The hidden costs of extreme guerilla gardening. I am sure Laboratoires Garnier would have quite a bit to say about ravaged skin , ruddy cheeks and windlashed epidernis. In fact it is the horticultural  equivalent  of a facial peel without the subtlety of soothing ungents.Have also discovered a potentially  winning  fragrance : Eau de Bonfire. Subtle woody notes tempered with a beguiling hint of ash and crispy cinder. Coming from the anarchist wing of the La Prairie stable .. this one is sure to be a runner !

prairie going up in smoke

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