World Cup soccer and gardening. It’s a great combination

My time these days is divided between two activities – watching World Cup soccer and doing garden projects. It’s a pleasant mix.

In the garden, I decided to try growing Thunbergia alata, the Black-eyed Susan vine, up a metal spiral inside a plain terra-cotta container.

It already looks quite good and I am hoping the vine will eventually scramble to the top of the spiral and continue blooming profusely. Now, I am wondering why it took me so long to do this.

Thunbergia is a vine I have seen in Mediterranean gardens but not so much here in British Columbia. Perhaps I always thought it would be too challenging to grow well in our climate.

Another project I have just completed is to add boxwood hedging to create parterres along two paths in the upper garden.

These paths were installed a year ago and I really thought they would look okay without being lined by boxwood. However, they quickly became overgrown by spring flowering bulbs and peonies and hydrangeas.

I decided they had lost their definition and need to be given more structure in order not to get lost the jungle of foliage. It seems to have worked. I like the initial new look which has a clear and elegant definition.

When I dug the trenches for the boxwood, Buxus sempervirens Suffruticosa, I found loads of bulbs – dwarf narcissus, alliums, crocus and scilla.

I lifted them and set them aside in a pail. Once the boxwood was planted, then I  worked the bulbs back into the garden.

All of this took more time than I expected, if you include the time it took to shop and transport the boxwood. This was made all the more pleasant because I frequently paused to watch World Cup soccer.

England has been doing surprisingly well. The Spain-Portugal game was magical. So many shocks and surprises and such drama with every game.

It has been wonderful to step back into the garden for some time of calm and quiet after all the excitement and suspense of the games.

swhysall@hotmail.com