The Flower Boat – Une barque fleurie

Another sunny day but this time we had a picnic lunch instead of dinner because the days are getting too short to cycle in the evening. Encore une belle journée ensoleillée mais nous avons troqué le dîner contre le déjeuner car les jours raccourcissent trop pour faire du vélo le soir.

Soft and Velvety – Doux et velouté

This is the first time we’ve had this plant called verbascum. Apparently it flowers the second year. This leaves are very big, about 60 cm in diameter and are soft and velvet to the touch. I have two of them which I guess I must have planted. C’est la première fois que nous avons cette …

Window Boxes I Want – Des jardinières que je veux

I won’t even show you what my petunias look like at the moment. I’m thinking I might call into to see the owner of this house and ask what the secret is. Je n’ose pas vous montrer l’état actuel de mes pétunias. Je pense qu’un jour je passerai voir la personne qui habite cette maison …

A Flower Arrangement at Chenonceau – Un bouquet de fleurs à Chenonceau

Now that we have our yearly pass we can pop in to Chenonceau whenever we like! This was my favourite flower arrangement this time. All the flowers are grown at the chateau. The pass costs 50 euros for a couple. Maintenant que nous avons un pass annuel pour Chenonceau nous pouvons faire toutes les visites …

A Garden Setting for a Castle – Un jardin pour encadrer un château

On our previous visits to Loches, we missed this park! What a lovely background for the castle and perfect for a picnic on the bike route. Pendant nos visites antérieures à Loches, nous n’avons pas vu ce parc ! Quel bel écrin pour un château et parfait pour un pique-nique sur notre tour de vélo.

Our Vegetable Patch – Notre potager

Our vegetable patch has lots of raspberries which I love, potatoes, runner beans, lettuces which we unfortunately share with the snails and slugs since the dog next door eliminated the hedgehogs, butternut pumpkins from Australia, strawberries, five types of heirloom tomatoes, chives, basil, rosemary, sorrel, gladioli, nasturtiums, roses, carnations and other unidentified flowers. Notre potager …

Why aren't my petunias like that? – Pourquoi mes pétunias ne sont-ils pas comme ça ?

As an aspiring gardener – and I say aspiring because gardening, like parenting, is very humbling – I am always on the lookout for magnificent planters such as this one that we rode past last night on our bikes. Below are my petunias this year, which I am quite proud of, but they are the result …

Taking a Break – Je fais une pause

In case you’re wondering, I’m taking a little break. I have been snowed under with translation work since we got back from holiday, plus two days in Paris, not to mention putting in a few skylights and trying to tame the garden. We’ll be posting daily again soon! Au cas où vous vous demandez où …