GBMD/ABC Wednesday 4: X is For...

...Xanadu

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea,
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round.
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossom'd many an incense-bearing tree.
And here were forests as ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But O! That deep romantic chasm which slanted,
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover.
A savage place! As holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon lover.
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this Earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced,
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst,
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail,
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever,
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion,
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran.
Then reach'd the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean.
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from afar
Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device
A sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice.
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw.
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song.
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air!
That sunny dome! Those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there!
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes! his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread!
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Kubla Khan (1798) - Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

We're experiencing a heatwave here in the UK at the moment, so I'm having nights of broken dreams and fragments of memory. I imagine they might be a little like Coleridge's interrupted slumbers, but thankfully without the effects of opium and the presence of the rather shadowy Person from Porlock.

It's like venturing out into a warm, wet flannel, so gardening's confined to early morning and the afternoons given over to musing on where Xanadu might be - I suspect anywhere you'd like it to be, real or imagined - and which stately pleasure-dome I might decree for my fantasy garden. A climbable folly affording views from miles around, or a mysterious, glittery grotto would be rather fun, but a bit too big for my real garden unfortunately. But a girl can dream - if you had unlimited space and money, what would you choose?

I've deliberately not posted a picture today, so your imaginations can have a free reign!

Garden Bloggers Muse Day is hosted by Sweet Home and Garden Chicago and all the eXtra posts on the theme of X are over at the ABC Wednesday blog.

Comments

  1. Frances1 July 2009 at 11:40

    Oh VP, such a vision this conjures, thanks for the inspiration to dream during daytime when the heat and humidity are too oppressive to be out in the garden. As for your question, the pie in the sky used to be five acres of land with a barn and tractor to do the heavy lifting. Now a small space with the choicest of evergreens on berms for viewing and perfect pea gravel paths winding around corners of surprising delight, it can be seen as this is written in the mind's eye.
    Frances

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carrie1 July 2009 at 12:10

    Oh, VP, wouldn't you like to meet me and maggie-the-wonder-dog? :( I was just looking at all your friends in their lists and, well....
    A girl could get hurt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Helen/patientgardener1 July 2009 at 12:18

    You have just dragged me back to my O'levels. I had to study this poem and the Ancient Mariner. I used to be able to recite quite abit of Kubla Khan, but can now only manage the first 5 lines.

    I'm sure I saw something on oneof those academic archeological programmes about Kubla Khan's place and that he really existed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monica the Garden Faerie1 July 2009 at 12:36

    Hmmm, looks like the game will start over soon and when it does, I think I'll join. For me, X would definitely be for Xeric. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Victoria Summerley1 July 2009 at 17:34

    Actually, right now I'd settle for a few caves of ice. No, make that lots of caves of ice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sweet Home and Garden Carolina1 July 2009 at 19:03

    A wonderful contribution , as always, to GBMD, VP.

    When I was young the heat and humidity didn't bother me. Of course, growing up on a farm, we often gardened in days that reached 100 degrees. I now find anything above 80 to be oppressive.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Commonweeder1 July 2009 at 19:08

    This poem should be at the top of the list of great garden poems. Aren't we all trying to achieve our own pleasure domes where we can drink the milk of Paradise?

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP1 July 2009 at 20:21

    Frances - I can always rely on you to think of a wonderful answer to this kind of question. I'm still at the five acres of land with a barn stage ;)

    Carrie - yes I would love to meet you and Maggie and does Andy get a look in too? I've just looked at my lists and I can see what the problem is. Your blogname is very similar to Growing Our Own and when I had a tidy up a couple of months ago, I simply deleted the wrong one. As I don't use my blogrolls that often, I'd not spotted it - so thank you for pointing it out. I'll go and change it as soon as I've finished replying to the rest of the comments. You're also due for a couple of post mentions over the next few days, so I hope the link love from them will make amends.

    PG - we studied Christabel for O Level which I remember more these days for having a couple of lines quoted at the end of a John Wyndham story

    Monica - it would be great to have you join in! Anna, Tyra and Prairie Rose already do. I suspect a lot of Gardeners from over the pond would choose Xeric?

    Victoria - oooh don't - now I want loads of ice too!

    Carolyn - and thanks for being such a great GBMD host - I had a chuckle with your garden songs this month. I'm sure you've had plenty of additions to your list by now? I think we usually get a higher humidity over here because of our maritime climate. I certainly don't find the equivalent temperatures as bad over in continental Europe. However having said that I seem to remember Chicago can be pretty humid too when I visited in June 1992.

    Commonweeder - it's great isn't it? It conjures up so many images for me, hence the lack of photo today because I wanted the same thing to happen to anyone visiting. And if I remember correctly garden is another word for Paradise.

    ReplyDelete
  9. easygardener1 July 2009 at 21:00

    Mine has got to be a large conservatory - a sort of miniature Wisley glasshouse with tropical, temperate and desert areas. That would do me nicely. Oh and the house and land to go with it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anna1 July 2009 at 21:31

    Good one VP ! I hate to lower the tone but as soon as I saw your title the Dave,Dee,Dozy etc. song "The Legend of Xanadu" came straight into my head :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Q1 July 2009 at 22:22

    I loved this!
    My dream is to have a helper in the garden to do the weeding! I like to plant!
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  12. Carrie1 July 2009 at 22:49

    All is forgiven sweet VP. I wasn't going to be able to angry or upset with you, i like your blog too much ;) x Andy can get a look in too, we kind of just come as one package anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gail2 July 2009 at 02:11

    eXcellent! I loved reciting this poem...although we never had to memorize it! gail

    ReplyDelete
  14. our friend Ben2 July 2009 at 12:52

    Ha! Thanks for this, VP! I confess, It's been so long since I read "Kubla Khan" that I could only remember the first two lines. I, too, have long fantasized about having 5 acres cleared and 45 wooded, which I think is about perfect. But as for a pleasure-garden, I would like my own mountain, with tumbling streams and wildflowers and woods and a view across verdant valleys to another mountain range in the distance, and beyond it, the shining sea. Aaaahhh!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jay2 July 2009 at 13:22

    I know all about interrupted slumbers! I tend to sleep better with a little opium - or opiates anyway. Pain wakes me often, so codeine before bed is sometimes indicated!

    I only knew the first few lines of that poem.

    ReplyDelete
  16. jay2 July 2009 at 13:23

    Oh, dear. I put the wrong link in. Find me here -

    http://www.thedeppeffect.com/1217/abc-wednesday-the-letter-x/#comments

    Sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Rose2 July 2009 at 13:37

    What a perfect poem to combine both memes! I am sorry it's so hot there, but I'm glad it's the cause of your fitful sleep, not Coleridge's poppy:) I think Xanadu can be found in a beautiful garden--I visited one last week that made me think of paradise.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The Garden Monkey3 July 2009 at 23:12

    I love that poem - perhaps Olivia Newton-John's finest work.

    Mind you "(Let's Get) Physical" is good too.

    ReplyDelete
  19. VP4 July 2009 at 21:46

    EG - Exactly. I considered putting up a picture of the Eden Project or Kew's Palm House, but went for mind pictures instead.

    Anna - Dave Dee was a policeman in Chippenham. He was first on the scene when Eddie Cochran had his accident here. Not a lot of people know that!

    Sherry - that sounds like a great idea :)

    Carrie - I thought you two would be like that :)

    Gail - I would preferred this one to Christabel, which was published in 'The Golden Treasury of Longer Poems', so there was a hell of a lot more to learn :(

    OFB - now you're talking. I must put 'and by the sea' on my list.

    Jay - I'm on my way...

    Rose - you've hit the nail on the head there.

    GM - lovely to see you! Now, how did you know I've had ONJ's Xanadu on the brain ever since I wrote this post hmm?

    ReplyDelete

New comments are not allowed.

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more