A New Chapter by the Sea

I’m back…Well, that took longer than expected. My daughter, Clementine just turned seventeen weeks old.

I naively thought I’d be back sooner, however the journey of motherhood has been all-encompassing. It’s a 24/7 hour job and my life has changed considerably and I take each day as it comes.

I love spending time with Clemmie - she brings me so much joy and her personality is really beginning to shine through. After she was born, we soon realised our London flat was far too small, so after fourteen years of living in London, we packed our life into boxes.

We’ve relocated to the Kent coastal town of Deal. It’s a lovely area, a charming combination of english countryside and coastal nature. I walk along the front each day with my daughter, admiring the sun reflecting upon the sea and studying the local flora growing along the front.

It seems there are abundant Crambe maritima (sea kale) and Centranthus ruber growing anywhere they can. Malva sylvestris (common mallow), Verbascum thapsus and hollyhocks line the pebbled beach where the tide can’t reach. I love to watch passers-by pause to admire the colourful Alcea rosea (hollyhocks), smiling to themselves - it’s so wonderful to watch people admire nature!

My courtyard garden

The most exciting part of our move is that I finally have my own garden - hurrah!

It’s a small brick east-facing courtyard, so perfect for my containers. It’s a rented property and ideal for my current requirements as I want to enjoy the plants that I’ve been hoarding in containers over the years and don’t want to spend a lot of time managing borders or a lawn as my little baby does keep me rather busy.

It’s a pleasure to step out into the garden. I like to do small jobs when the baby is asleep like deadheading the roses, tying in the sweet peas, weeding or watering.

It’s very exciting to grow particular species like Begonia grandis and Pelargonium ‘Crocodile’.

I’m itching to move around the pots but my body is still recovering from the birth, so I have to wait patiently for my partner to shift them under my instruction.

After I finished working as a lecturer, my students kindly gifted me a David Austin voucher as a parting present. I treated myself to two simple roses as they are the friendliest choice for pollinators who can reach the pollen with ease, and personally, I think they are very beautiful. I chose ‘Dainty Bess’ and ‘Kew Gardens’, alongside the rose already in my possession, ‘Tottering Along Gently’.

The space is, of course a work in progress, there are so many plants which I’m planning to purchase. I can’t wait to visit local nurseries and can finally buy a few plants from Great Dixter and Beth Chatto!

I’m also growing a few edibles like cucumbers, blueberries, figs, dill and basil, with an intention to have an extensive collection of herbs in the future.

Nature in Deal

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the abundance of nature by the coast. Our house backs onto a series of heavily planted gardens with large trees, providing habitats for many insects and birds.

There are a few local characters - the wood pigeon nesting in the ivy opposite, crashing in twenty times a day to bring sticks to its nest. My friendly blackbird which competes daily for my ripe blueberries and the constant red admiral butterflies which dance around the garden.

My all-time favourite visitor is a very persistent leaf-cutter bee. She (the females cut the leaves) works consistently throughout the day, zooming around and selecting the newest and softest leaves on my roses, cutting a perfect half-moon with precision then rolling and flying it over to its nest.

I plan to write more regularly if I can and next week intend to write about my friendly leaf-cutter bee.

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