I’ve been looking at many other garden blogs recently and one thing I’ve noticed is that most of them have a spectacular banner image across the top of the home page. There are some really beautiful and eye-catching pictures out there and I compare those to my banner image and inevitably mine falls short.
It’s obvious why and it’s not surprising, for a start, it’s a sombre picture and doesn’t even focus on the garden. It’s a view through the rear patio doors where we have a small table that we sit and eat at in the summer months. For “a tiny plot crammed with flowers” the picture certainly doesn’t show that, in fact the only flowers are those of the Phalaenopsis orchid peeking in from the very left – it just happened to be in flower at the time.
Yet this image remains as the principal banner image, it’s easily glossed over and I have many better pictures I could use instead but for some reason, this one strikes a deep chord with me despite it being taken by chance. Perhaps it’s because of the way the chairs are companionably angled together. At the end of the table is an elegant bonsai (long since gone). The view is out on to the early garden in a lush, leafy green. The sun isn’t strong, but it dances on the Choisya and wafts through the window from the side, illuminating the curtain, giving a warm glow to the sideboard and highlighting that delicate orchid.
My partner and I sit on those chairs – always angled to each other – and look out onto the garden countless times. Out of all the images of the garden and its plants, this banner picture is the one that is the most poignant for me. It perfectly captures two most treasured things; my partner and my garden. To everyone else, it’s probably just mildly disappointing, but I don’t mind.
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