Sunday, May 2, 2010

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's...

I have a confession to make. It's not something I'm proud of and it may shock some readers, but it's something I feel I must share.

I'm unfaithful to my garden.  I have a roving eye. I've tried to fight it, but I'm too soon undone by a flash of bright colour caught out of the corner of my eye, or the silken curves of a soft petal, or the subtle scent of one of nature's beauties.

Only this morning I found myself gazing quite enviously at the roses of my neighbour.

Exhibit A: the Rose of my neighbour
But, I couldn't just stop there.  No.  Another soon caught my eye.


And then another.


To make matters worse, I don't even know their names. I have a passing familiarity with the rose, but the others are just beautiful strangers.

I spiralled ever downward, down into the dark pit of unbridled envy.  Each click of the shutter another slap in the face of human decency.

Thankfully, the clattering of a neighbour soon sent me scurrying back to my own patch of earth.  Red-faced and ashamed.

Until next time.

Oh, and I've now read the manual for my camera :)

14 comments:

  1. Join the club, Flo. I so enjoyed this post ... I've done it myself so many times. It's just so hard to stay faithful sometimes ... but it's not roses that lead me astray. Still the rose is rather lovely.

    The middle one looks a bit like a zinnia and the last one is definitely bougainvillea.

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  2. I completely understand Flo, I can often be found peeking over the fence at a flash rose. It's only when the neighbours catch you with a cutting in hand that you are in real trouble :D

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  3. Enjoy, don't envy. Let the neighbors do the work, and let yourself soak in the beauty. If that doesn't work, ask for a cutting.

    The magenta plant is bouganvillia, which I can't spell.

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  4. Hello! There are a couple of awards for you over on my blog. You can accept them or not as you wish - just wanted you to know that I enjoy reading your posts!

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  5. To me OPG (other peoples gardens) are the best. I can just sit or stand and enjoy. I don't have to worry do they need water, why are those leaves getting spots, argh more chickweed etc etc. I can just enjoy!

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  6. Thank you very much for your supportive comments. I'm very glad to know there are others who share my dark secret.

    And that's a Bouganvillea - I'd have never have guessed that. I'd never seen one and always pictured something far different in my daydreams of the tropics. I'd imagined something far more floral and I didn't know it grew in a temperate area.

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  7. Better unfaithful to your garden than unfaithful to your spouse, right?? How else to we get the ideas for our own gardens than stealing, um, I mean borrowing from our neighbors? I'd be coveting that rose too. Great post!!

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  8. You're one up on me: I still haven't read the manual and it's been over a year. There's no shame in a roving eye for plants. Now if you were to get your shovel and attempt an elicit elopement, that might be worth blushing over.

    Christine in Alaska

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  9. You voyeur, you! I'd never do anything like that. Never.
    (Have you started asking your neighbours for cuttings yet? They generally love it when people admire their garden)
    I had no idea you'd get bougainvilleas growing that far south - well done! I'd love some but we don't have a prayer unfortunately.
    Beautiful dahlia too (I think) - you should ask them what variety it is ..

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  10. Being unfaithful to my garden might be considered by some as indicative of a trend. I know it's not, but you know how people can be :)

    Oh, and thank you for the reminder, Christine, I'd conveniently suppressed all memory of "the garden incident". It actually gets far worse than harmless ogling - I now must admit to taking cuttings from a neighbour without consent. I am the worst kind of man. Lock up the silver and padlock the dog - I'm coming to a garden near you.

    The cutting was of Rosemary so it doesn't really count. Does it?

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  11. I have found that by associating my neighbour's gardens with my own sinister suspicions about them, I actually come to dislike everything they grow.

    Simple really, although some people call it mental!

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  12. Oh no! Now that you've photographed and shared them I am coveting your neighbor's flowers, too! :)

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  13. I wouldn't worry too much. I raised most of my tomato plants from seed but bought two the other day just for kicks...I secretly find myself willing my raised seedlings to do better than the bought ones! like treating bioligical children better than adopted.....the shame...the shame.....

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  14. Wow, I love that first picture of the rose. Beautiful!! Thanks for brightening my morning :)

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