Patience is a Virtue ... or Slow Down, And Smell the Roses!

Wisteria Floribunda Alba
Over 10 years in the waiting!

In our last post documenting our May meeting on Lancelot "Capability" Brown, (read it by clicking here) we made much mention of the fact that many of his designs would not have matured in his (or the owner's) own lifetime.  As gardeners, we also face this problem, even if on a more limited scale.  Many of our plantings will take a few years to come to fruition, and if you get it wrong, and have to start again (says the disappointed voice of experience - Ed), the wait will become even longer before results are seen.  If you want a good, well-planned garden, there really are no short cuts to the waiting, even if some television programmes may suggest that immediate gratification is possible.  It might be to a degree - but it probably won't last very long when poorly thought out combinations and positionings of plants mean that they die after the first year, or come back spindly, if at all.  Alternatively, that plant which filled a space so well in its first year turns out to be a monstrous thug in the second, slaughtering everything around it and becoming a complete eyesore.

Long racemes of white flowers mark this plant.
A pain to prune, but the flowers will be replaced with foliage for shade.

For us gardeners, therefore, the old adage "Patience is a Virtue" has real meaning.  It does however also have some positive benefits, as enforced patience in the garden alleviates the hectic life that is all around us, forcing us to slow down a bit and to - quite literally - smell the roses instead.  In addition, very little will beat that sense of accomplishment when a long-term project finally reaches its original aim, and the beauty of the design at last becomes apparent. For your authors - and the reason that this article has been written - this has just occurred, and we thought that we would share it with you in order to give hope and anticipation now that the spring has arrived and everything is growing so well, while encouraging you all to slow down a little and enjoy what is around you, rather than rushing past it (and to allow a bit of bragging, perhaps? - Ed).

About 10 years ago - give or take a few - we constructed a pergola over our raised patio, with the intention of growing some climbers over the top to give shade from the sun.  We had visions of lovely dappled shade coming through a leafy cover, rather than suffering more years wilting under direct sunlight, and squinting unattractively at each other while we ate.  We also had - and still have - an issue with height in the garden as years of removing unchecked and unsuitable growth inherited with the house has left us with a garden that needs a bit more in it that goes upwards, rather than outwards.  Despite the slow growth, we chose to plant a wisteria over the pergola, knowing that it would take years to cover the space.  We chose the white form of the plant, Wisteria Floribunda Alba (at least we think it is floribunda rather than sinensis as the racemes are long, and there are plenty of them).  Incidentally, this is a version that is not well known, as many people do not know that a white form is available - we spoke to a coachload of Americans last year at Sissinghurst, who were bowled over as none had ever seen the white flowered type before, and were completely unaware of its existence.

From underneath, the flowers just clear our heads and
carry a fantastic vanilla fragrance to boot.

And finally,after a decade of training and pruning, this is the year that the plant at last reached the end of the pergola!  It is in the middle of the blooming period, and we have discovered that it has a fantastic vanilla scent as well, making it a delight to sit under the pergola when it is in bloom.  It has been a decade of waiting for the effect to finally be achieved, and we can honestly say that the wait has been worth it.  For a number of years, we have been able to see the framework develop, and we have been able to see that the effect we wanted was coming together, but finally - finally - we are there, and cannot be more pleased.  There is a tremendous sense of peace (and pride) at a job well done.

So, for all of you gardeners just starting, remember that patience is necessary, but that the rewards will come - and they they are all the sweeter for having waited, and for having done the job properly in the first place.  And, as we sit under the blooms and enjoy them as we meant them to be, remember that you need to take the time from everything that is around you - including the drudgery of weeding and actual gardening - to enjoy the garden that you have, and just to have a moment's peace and quiet in it.