I've come to watch your flowers growing

Rosa Veilchenblau in the Gardens at Dolores Delargo Towers

It isn't often that we generally say we love something without a prick - but for our utterly gorgeous thornless violet-blue rambling rose Veilchenblau, we will make an exception! Remarkably for the grim North London housing estate in which my office is sadly located, I spotted this beauty overhanging the back garden of one of the maisonettes opposite reception and in autumn 2014, I took a few hardwood cuttings (it's a rambler - more of the plant is outside the garden than actually in it). In a small pot of gritty compost on the floor outside the back door, one of them overwintered and rooted successfully, and began to grow.

Two-and-a-half years later, its leading branch is eight feet long - we trained it along the fence behind the bench - and has produced [with not insubstantial assistance from the services of the hoverfly larvae, of course] seventeen sprays of these beautiful blooms (and four more further down the plant)! Plants never cease to amaze and astonish.

Speaking of astonishment... Despite torrential downpours interspersed with that kind of stifling heat one tends to get when it is overcast - today I managed to get some shopping in, and even some pottering in the garden (as we did all day yesterday, and no doubt will be doing all day tomorrow), albeit mainly sat inside the greenhouse avoiding getting soaked. As is my wont (especially on a Sunday, when Radio 2 is at its best) I spent it in the company of showtunes and easy listening numbers...

...including this one! [The reason for the astonishment? This video is the first time I have ever seen the group in the flesh; and all of a sudden I realised where the brilliant Mike Flowers Pops got the inspiration from.]

It's Harpers Bizarre with The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy):

Harpers Bizarre - The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy
Hello lamppost, what cha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo, feelin' groovy
Got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy

And so it is.