Patrick Blanc - vertical gardens

Mr P's conifer

Yesterday Blogger deleted my reply to the wasp/hornet post and I haven't the heart to retype it so I'm changing the subject, but will keep you informed.

The 2nd half of my post is a moan, I need to get it out of my system but you don't need to read it. Instead go and enjoy the wonderful vertical gardening of one of my idols Patrick Blanc who has FINALLY(!) been acknowledged by the UK's TV gardeners when they featured him on a piece for the Chelsea Flower Show last night (he's not in the actual show, sadly). Imagine if all the ugly buildings in cities were clothed in green, amazing. And so good for our souls, our air quality and for city ecosystems.


Patrick Blanc vertical garden at Quai Branly, Paris
Photo found here.

I could never understand why his work was so ignored by them, it's so important and so beautiful. I wondered if perhaps it was because it involved no soil. A lot of gardeners are snobby about soil. I remember they did a piece about hydroponics on Gardener's World last year and some of them were quite snotty about it saying it wasn't 'real' gardening (tell that to the kids who visit The Hydroponicum in Scotland, lucky lucky scool kids). I agree there is no substitute for getting your fork or hands into soil, but to say that anything soilless isn't gardening is silly, so many plants have developed in places that don't have gardens full of soil. And so many people don't have gardens at all. Learn how Patrick got started here.


My Rowan still growing in a plastic bag, 4th year?
I do, finally, have somewhere for it to go soon

Perhaps they feel the same about Patrick Blanc? His plant clad buildings are basically vertical hydroponics. I remember being wowed by his Paris gardens when I saw them in a book in the Library on Pwhelli in Wales 5 years ago. Oh how I miss Wales, such a beautiful country full of incredible scenery, enormous toasted teacakes, fantastic galleries, lovely people and, for me, wonderful memories.

Yesterday I got my 3rd period in 4 weeks, not impressed, my body is so out of whack just now. How can so many bits hurt in so many ways at one time? I can usually handle 3 sorenesses at a time, but I must be at about 10 this week and they are wide ranging. Skin, joints, nerve endings and muscles. SO I try to count my blessings. My forearms don't hurt in the middle, nor do my thighs (apart from some bruises). But everythign else - Ow.


I can't see them but I can hear them :0)

Thankfully Mr P has been great all month about giving Lucy a decent walk each day to make up for me being crappy. He said that all his collegues are getting really sick with some mystery exhaustion bug, and these people are all self employed so it must be really bad as no work =no money. Maybe my exhaustion has been triggered by the bug and that's what's aggravated my Shingles?


Longing to climb that hill again

Who knows, certainly the Doc has no interest in finding out so as always I will do my best to heal myself with healthy food, herbs, herbal/homoeopathic remedies etc. But it all costs money. I had to buy some new St John's Wort tincture (good for recoveriong from Shingles but also an anti-depressant, and you really need that when you've had chronic exhaustion and pain for years) it cost so much I couldn't get the homoeopathic remedies I was wanting.

Got to stop, joints cracking. Have a healthful weekend folks, and if your limbs work get out there and enjoy them to the full, they are amazing things to have.

ps. I keep forgetting there are men building a new roof 2 houses down. When they stand on it they can see over the 10ft hedge right into where I'm sleeping! Ooh, I'm getting ideas in my head now for making vertical hydroponic window shutters.