Surprise

This week's blog features a remarkable photo, taken at the beginning of October, of a "wildflower meadow" and sent to me by a client. I did say I would credit Philip with this shot, so take a bow!

A remarkable photo for several reasons.

Firstly the seed was not set until July, over a month after the latest recommended sowing time, and in temperatures of over 30 degrees C.

It was sown on a mix of stones and very poor soil , which had been almost a sub-soil strata infill to raise the level of a newly completed section of hard landscaping prior to topping with good soil.

It received very little watering as the garden owners were not in residence at this time, so was reliant on the generosity and conscience of occasional visitors.

In all, for more than two months the seeds were subjected to a high degree of neglect.

The late planting was entirely my doing - since the hard landscaping had, as usual for France, taken far longer to complete than anticipated (too much rain to dig out footings, too much sun to mix cement, too hot to concrete pilings in place, non -delivery of promised building materials, etc, etc, etc .

I could not bear the thought of greeting my clients with this hideous patch of weed and stone when they arrived for their well deserved holiday that I weeded, raked and riddled most of the junk out and then manically scattered seed everywhere.

And as they say here - Voilà!

One of the biggest surprises ever - not least of which because the illustration on the sack of seed bears very little resemblance to the plants which appeared!

I cannot look at this photo without smiling at the cheerful display these little flowers have made. And what does it say for the instructions of when, and when not, to plant.

So, maybe the mot du jour should be - just go out and do it?