Away to Ottawa for a few days to help Forrest and Manon build a trellis over the deck we helped them build last May. It was our great fortune to have the company of Angelica, Brendan, Cristen, and grandbaby Kelly too during our stay. Here’s the trellis in its infancy:
And here it is three days later, in use:
That little vine in front is a rooted cutting from the wisteria John’s mother brought from her mother’s garden in Suffolk in the 1970s. We have three huge vines from it and I am so happy to know that it will live on in other gardens, providing shade and memory, along with its spectacular blooms and fragrance. It survived its first Ottawa winter so the future looks promising.
Here’s my granddaughter helping me to weed garlic:
And here’s my beautiful daughter and daughter-in-law and granddaughter at brunch on our last morning together:
And here’s Kelly’s granddad:
And our hosts Forrest and Manon (who will have a baby of their own in October, a welcome addition to future family gatherings):
I loved seeing what a doting father my son Brendan has become, patient and loving:
In the meantime, at home, things grew:
Now I have to go tie up tomatoes which have already begun to bloom.
...Theresa Kishkan 
So nice for you! How lovely to see all of you together. xo
It would have been nice to see you, A, but making plans with my family is like herding cats. October maybe?
wonderful! love that photo of john looking SO happy Susan
It was pretty much heaven, Susan.
Beautiful family, beautiful photos! And what is the name of that gorgeous Oriental poppy? Its cousin, twice-removed, lives here on Lennard Island, an unearthly mauve-pink colour!
Caroline, it’s “Princess Victoria Louise” — ravishing! I have some deep plum ones too — don’t recall the name — which haven’t opened yet. I’ll save you seed if you like and I’d love to have seed from yours. (Coastal flower swap…moss rose roots? Mine walk and I can easily send you a root. Harold R. and I used to exchange roots and bits and found that single-malt sleeves are perfect for surviving the mail. Of course one has to drink the whisky, a terrible hardship.)
Great to know the name, finally, Theresa! Yes, I will definitely save you seeds from it and await the deep plum one, wow, I’d love to see that one. I am up to my elbows in gardening of course but I’m not whining, honest. I love it but the big problem here is that every possible spot, thanks to 110 years plus of gardeners, is jammed full of bulbs or roots! So I must decline the moss roses but I cannot resist the plum poppy… this is the fatal (and often fragrant) road to ruin, of course!
Ok, Caroline — I’ll send poppy seed once these have finished. I also have a white one with a pink throat but although there are leaves, no buds have formed yet. If that changes, I’ll save some of that too.
[…] For several years before that, it was to Ottawa to help Forrest and Manon build a deck, then a pergola the next year to provide support for grape vines to shade their summer […]