No 11
  • Cottage & Garden
  • About Robyn Kilty
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • Visitor Info & Contact Us
  • New Page
  • Home

18/6/2020

The shortest day

9 Comments

Read Now
 
 The last vestiges of jewel-like colour in early June, before finally disappearing after days of frosts then rain.
PictureThe last brightness of the season as a few lingering leaves of the climber, Ornamental Grape - Vitis cognetiae - contrasts iridescent pink against the sober green columns of the twining New Zealand native - Muehlenbeckia complexa















​Even in winter as the shortest day approaches, the flamboyant colour of these ornamental grape leaves, still cling to the vine - Vitis cognetiae.
Sometimes called Crimson Glory Vine the iridescent crimson of these lingering leaves are intensified against the sober green of New Zealand native plants.  One offsets the other.  The  crimson of the grape leaves would not look nearly so jewel-like if they did not have the dark green sobriety of native plants nearby to bounce off.  And at the other end of the scale, the dull green of these native plants is enlivened by fragments of autumn colour from the northern hemisphere.​
The plant world sets an example to we unenlightened humans who can't always blend together so well!

Picture
The last golden leaves clinging to Wisteria 'Show Showers' against a threatening early winter sky
Picture
A sombre view against a dull grey winter sky. The leafless trees of Hagley Park woodland in Christchurch in mid-winter.
Picture
The same Ornamental Grape - climbing further along the front of the verandah - this time silhouetted against a nearby Cabbage tree - Cordyline australis
​​When a southerly storm comes barrelling up from the Antarctic continent in early winter 
​and the last leaves of autumn lingering on the ornamental grape tap against my bedroom window at night in the wind, I don't think  botanically. 
​I think of the words of the Russian writer, 
Boris Pasternak in the first chapter of his famous novel, Doctor Zhivago.
Picture









​"With each blast of wind the leafless trees danced as if possessed, and flattened themselves against the path.  During the night, the boy, Yuri, was woken up by a knocking at the window and the dark room was mysteriously lit up by a flickering whiteness ... he ran to the window and pressed his face against the cold glass .....there was nothing but blizzard, the air smoking with snow.  It was as if the snowstorm had caught sight of Yuri and as if concsious of it's power to terrify, roared, howled and did everything to attract his attention ''.   
Yuri had just witnessed his mothers funeral that day.
"Clods of earth drummed on the lid like rain as the grave was hurriedly filled... a mound grew up on it and a ten year old boy climbed on top.  The boy covered his face with his hands and burst into sobs.  The wind bearing down on him lashed his hands and face with cold gusts of rain..... he was afraid that his mother buried in the open field, would helplessly sink deeper and deeper away from him into the ground"

Picture
The beauty of skeletal trees silhouetted in the mist of a winter morning in Hagley Park .
Such is the power of Pasternaks writing, as he equates the coming of winter with the pathos of a child mourning his mothers death.  His words touch me, so that when I too, see those last clinging leaves  and hear them tapping on my bedroom window at night, I remember Yuri's despair.   Even in the southern hemisphere  a world away from Russia's cruel winters,  I still feel a sense of loss for the season past.  Knowing that that particular season is lost in time and will never come back - a death in it's own right. ​
Picture
Deciduous Betula (birch) forest in Russia in mid-winter.
Picture
Taiga (Russian coniferous forest in mid-winter)
 We in New Zealand can never know the bleak drama of a Russian winter, as our whole land is not blanketed in snow and ice for months on end, as above.   We might have frost on the ground and cold damp foggy mornings, but apart from alpine areas, the change from autumn to winter is never so dramatic and cruel here. 
Russia's taiga (extensive indigenous forests) covers 45% of it's huge landmass and a big percentage of this is coniferous forest with it's spiky needle foliage .  New Zealand is not part of a great continent as is Russia, but small maritime islands in the southern hemisphere and we too have our evergreen indigenous forest, but it couldn't be more different!  Instead of spiky green needles, our evergreens can be soft and lush, such as soft and graceful tree-ferns, evergreen beech forest, cordylines and nikaus, so winter here is never such a dramatic picture.  With our favourable natural climate and geography, we are also host to many exotic plants which were brought here during 19th century settlement.   So  even in midwinter some areas can almost look sub-tropical.  We don't know how lucky we are!!
Picture
A winter picture taken on the shortest day in Hagley Park Christchurch, where native evergreens and exotics combine happily.
Picture
A foggy morning in mid-winter along the Avon river in Christchurch. Apart from the mists rising off the river, would you ever guess it was mid winter? When we see native evergreen native plantings on the far bank and exotic eucalypts leaning over the water it could be any season.

Share

9 Comments
MK
29/6/2020 10:52:32 pm

Beautiful story Robyn

Reply
Robyn Kilty link
1/7/2020 01:22:51 pm

Thanks for appreciating the story Matthew -it's great when your child can see what you are about!

Reply
Anna
30/6/2020 03:18:54 pm

Robyn - you really are so extraordinarily creative: in thought, talent, writing and photography. Your images are simply divine and evoke the whole pathos of winter beauty.

Reply
Robyn Kilty link
1/7/2020 01:25:47 pm

Thanks for your very generous words Anna - such a compliment from you.

Reply
Suzanne
30/6/2020 03:44:27 pm

I felt as if I were there amongst the mist, snow and winter leaves hanging on

Reply
Robyn Kilty link
1/7/2020 01:28:16 pm

So pleased to hear you felt like that Suzanne. It tells me you 'got it'.

Reply
Ann Kennedy link
2/7/2020 11:19:10 am

Oh Robyn,
how beautiful! You are a professor of words, images and things that are special to us. I visited my late sisters resting place on Tuesday as it was her birthday (73rd) and I thought of this blog and it made it all easier.
I look at this blog everyday and it fills me with joy.
Thank you Robyn,
Ann Kennedy

Reply
Robyn Kilty link
2/7/2020 12:45:07 pm

Well you are kind Ann! Your words make me feel it is worthwhile making these blogs!

Reply
Penny Zino link
23/7/2020 10:48:53 am

Love it Robyn and all the references to Russia, we are lucky indeed not to have winters as they do!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

Details

    Author

    I AM A GARDENER, GARDEN WRITER AND ARTIST.   AFTER SEVERAL YEARS WRITING REGULARLY AS A COLUMNIST I HAVE MISSED WRITING ABOUT MY GARDEN, OTHER GARDENS AND GARDENS IN GENERAL FOR THE GARDEN PAGES OF THE PRESS SO HAVE RESOLVED TO SET UP MY OWN BLOG AND WEBSITE.
    ​
     IN THIS WAY  I CAN DISCUSS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY GARDEN AND IN OTHERS AS THE SEASONS TURN.  I STILL DO GO RUSHING INTO THE GARDEN TO TAKE PHOTOS OF SOMETHING  WHEN THE LIGHT IS RIGHT OR SOMETHING LOOKS PARTICULARLY DELECTABLE, BUT ITS NOT THE SAME WHEN THE PHOTOS DO NOT GET 'OUT THERE'.  HOWEVER WITH MY OWN BLOG, THE PHOTOS AND ACCOMPANYING STORY CAN AGAIN BE SEEN BY THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED.  

    Archives

    July 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    September 2018
    June 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Cottage & Garden
  • About Robyn Kilty
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • Visitor Info & Contact Us
  • New Page
  • Home