Plant with a past

Another dry day, so far. It's overcast and doesn't really feel more than just warm, though the thermometer is reading 20 degrees this afternoon. 

Working out on the garden bank today, trying to remove many unwanted seedlings, oak, ash, hazel, rowan, hypericum, willowherb, brambles and many more. I can't believe it's happened so quickly - though some of the trees are a couple of feet tall!

My Blip today is of a young Philadelphus, though I'm not sure which species. I suspect it might be P. coronarius.  I was given a rooted cutting by my brother, who had rooted cuttings from our garden in Hampton Hill. Our Dad apparently took cuttings from our grandparents house in Teddington. I can remember playing with stems from the two shrubs as a boy, in the early 1950s. I would cut stems to make bows and arrows, and I remember a little later cutting larger stems, splitting them down the middle, removing the pith and making channels down which I would run water. Easily amused in those days! Still it's good to have this plant to remember those shrubs from the past. The house is now a care home - I must call in next time I'm passing to see if they're still there!

Quote of the Day: 'In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.' - Alex Haley.