A Garden Revealed...

I am so content with being alone right now. I sit in my “room with a view” and type. I am only visited by cats who leisurely stroll around the courtyard. Earlier on I shared my food with them. I had tuna salad. They had the oil and half the tuna flakes. We look at each other through the glass door. Sometimes I can see the surprise in their eyes when they suddenly notice me.

I have a thing about standing on the highest mountain, dipping my feet in the sea, having a room that faces East… and the Year of the Tiger has not disappointed me. I stood on the highest mountain in Saudi, I dipped my feet in the Red Sea, and I am sitting here, writing this, in a room that faces East!

A secret garden revealed…

My bedroom faces East. In the mornings when I open my curtains, the sun reaches across the room and touches the furthest wall. On my days off, I like to sit on the floor, legs outstretched, leaning against the bed. 

Not a landscaped view to feast my eyes upon - I look at my little courtyard with its begging-to-be-replaced furniture. On my right is the bougainvillea – violet purple. It was massive when I moved in. Before I could enjoy it and before I could stop him, the gardener had gotten to it and had trimmed it down to a neat shrub. For fucks sake: Don’t they know I love overgrown bougainvilleas that have Mediterranean written all over it! Now I stare at it, willing it to grow back to its original, unkept size. I also water it and shower it with adoration.

In the furthest corner to the right, I have planted eight red geraniums. I know they are red because they were cuttings I collected when my neighbour’s bush got trimmed to smithereens. Indian gardeners, it seems, LOVE trimming. They also know how to open taps and how to transplant. They transplant rosebushes, palm trees, and anything that looks good as is. No need for nurseries then. The neighbourhood’s shrubs and bushes do the rounds as the owners come and go.

Then I have a narrow stretch about 1 x 3m that has a cactus, two grapevines, two geraniums, two rose bushes, a daisy bush, a marigold and some groundcover. To add to this mixture, there’s a wild jasmine rambling over the wooden fence. I did not like the cactus, but it was too huge to remove. Then one day, it surprised me with a flower, and all was forgiven. The cactus may stay. One of the rose bushes has white roses. Another one in the front is a gorgeous pink. One by one they reveal their splendour to me.

I have an odd collection of pots and plant anything that would grow, in it. Geraniums give the best returns on investment. 

Against the wall I planted rosemary. I planted several cuttings in the optimistic belief and hope that at least one will take. I also discovered that soup strainers have more than one use. (Hello, Nicola!)

I do not get to see the sunrise. By the time it becomes visible, it has already lifted from the horizon. Beyond my retaining wall, is the 5m perimeter wall. I don’t know what’s on the outside, and “they” don’t know what’s on the inside. Fair enough. My garden can remain my secret, my joy, my comfort.