Wednesday 30 June 2010

Long hot days


When was England last so hot for so long? When iced tea was a genuine call; washing took minus 30 seconds to dry; and becoming an ice cream seller looked a watertight business venture? It is the weather that characterised our childhoods: hot mornings, one after another, the sun so warm at breakfast you knew the day was set to be blisteringly good. Running through the sprinkler in our pants, strawberries sweeter than honey, sleeping with only a sheet, and a long summer ahead…

Back then we didn’t know it wouldn’t last forever. The summer holidays felt endless, the days so long, every moment precious. Now, in panicking moments, one frets that more summer lies behind than in front; the reminders of time passing – Solstice, another Wimbledon final, roses faded. Was it appreciated enough at the time?

But in gardens, nothing can last forever. Nature orchestrates a sequence that spreads out the peaks, so that the passing of one beauty makes room for the next to be appreciated. The country verges are full of cow parsley in May, but replaced by foxgloves in June. The roses are fading now, but lilies and phlox are on their way. And in the parks, the freshness of May’s lime tree leaves may have had its day, but instead look up and breathe in. That sweetness in the air, like a Jo Malone testing booth? It is the most unsuspecting of sources, the lime blossom.