Much as I'd love to submit these photos to The Very Mistress for her annual Garden Photos Event, sadly they are not from Château DeVice's
Yesterday saw a trip to Norwich to drop Indescribable off for some course she's undertaking (she couldn't drive herself as her car was being M.O.T.ed), so I had a few hours to kill while waiting for her to finish. And what better venue could I have chosen to obliterate those hours (not to mention my bank balance) than at the Urban Jungle?!
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| A beautiful Datura |
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| Datura something-or-other, Canary Island Foxglove (Digitalis canariensis), and something that I didn't get the name of |
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| I love this broken pot planted with ferns - I'm not going to chuck out broken or frost damaged pots anymore. |
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| Compost loo |
Hidden amongst the trees was this compost toilet - a hole in the ground topped off with a wooden platform inset with a conventional toilet seat and lid. While a nice idea, it smelled like a pigsty in desperate need of mucking out. Plus, the hole was set too far back leaving quite a sizable lip for men with a poor aim to sprinkle on. And sprinkle they had. Actually, perhaps doused would be a better description as the floor in front of the loo was a veritable swimming pool of piss! I was so eager to escape the putrid pit that I almost didn't notice this suggestive illustration of a fungus.
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| A hidden dining area |
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| A selection of Agaves |
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| I believe this one is Agave gentryi 'Jaws' - I wonder how it got its name...? |
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| "Black-eyed Susan" |
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| This ginger, while beautiful, smelled of cum |
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| The café is housed within this lushly planted greenhouse, complete with Koi carp |
Rather surprisingly, I only came away with two Digitalis illumination 'Raspberry' - and ended up spending more money in the Café (I met my other sister, Inexcuseable, her husband and friend, and treated them to brunch) than on plants. Gah!
If you haven't already done so, remember to get your garden photos to The Very Mistress by the end of Sunday, 1st October!
What a lovely place to spend some time, excepting the composting loo! But what I want to know is did the car pass the MOT?
ReplyDeleteIt did, luckily for Indescribable. And me, otherwise she would have insisted on using Car to ferry her and her grubby urchin children around until hers was made roadworthy again!
DeleteHow the h ell did you find your way out? Bread crimps? I don't like out house or port o potties as there called here. The smell.......and other fears.
ReplyDeleteIt was a little "Babes in the Wood" at times, and I did keep expecting to find a gingerbread cottage - so I felt right at home!
DeleteAs for the loo: there would certainly be no glory to be had from that hole!
Lovely excursion, sugar, but I'm with you re the "loo!" xoxo
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's a nicer one in the café. Well, I hope there is...
DeleteSeems that loo is not properly set-up.We have one at the local Community Garden and, apart from hooligans setting fire to the wood shavings, it's fine.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll carry the lap top out to the garden and show my Datura what it should be doing!That entire garden is glorious, but the table-and-chairs really caught my eye.What a lovely setting!
If it was a nicer day (it was alternating between drizzle and downpours) we could have taken brunch out there.
DeleteThe table, not the loo.
I hope your Datura gets the hint!
I think if your cum smells of ginger you should get urgent medical attention!
ReplyDeleteI've got the NHS website open in another window as I type this...
DeleteI checked the cafe's menu and they serve CAKE!
ReplyDeleteYou would have had a field day in there! Such cakes to behold. I had carrot cake to start, then chocolate fudge cake for pudding!
DeleteThey didn't have any copies of this for sale though, so I hope you've already got one?
I need to start wearing protective goggles when I visit this blog.
DeleteThe goggles are over there next to the Febreze.
DeleteThey always have nice cake at these garden places. To be honest I don't bother with the gardens I head to the cake shop. Abbotsbury in Dorset springs to mind.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, my garden is on trend! I have many broken pots, and ferns, but not necessarily together.
Sx
Nice cake, yes, but bloody expensive!
DeleteIf you can manage to cobble together some ferns in a pot and sell it at a ridiculously over-inflated price, you might be able to afford a slice of cake.
What a spectacular jungle garden! And what a firm, exciting looking fungi with the rigid stalk and fascinating cap...
ReplyDeleteI hope the outhouse was an art installation and not actual working model. A friend wanted me to go on weekend getaway and stay in a tiny house on wheels. I was all for it, until she mentioned it only had a composting toilet. Needless to say, I declined that trip. I like indoor plumbing, even when I go camping!