I'm breaking *

Our Cymbidium orchid is spectacular again this year!

I had a flurry of activity this afternoon in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers! It was lovely and sunny, despite the really chilly wind, and I spent a few hours systematically pruning back all our fuchsias, as well as salvias and ferns that hadn't already been tackled. Knackering, it may have been - but it's all getting ready for the summer to come [and, indeed, our clocks go forward tonight and British Summer Time begins tomorrow]!

Meanwhile, on a day of birthdays that include Sir Dirk Bogarde, Sir Michael Parkinson, Dame Flora Robson, Mike Newell, Maxim Gorky, Lord Neil Kinnock, Vince Vaughn, Reba McEntire, Sir Richard Eyre and - ahem - Lady-fucking-GaGa...

...today marks 460 years since the foundation of the fabled walled city of Valletta, capital of "plucky little" Malta!

To mark the occasion, how about their surprisingly faboo Eurovision entry from back in 2021?

Destiny - Je me casse

She's obviously a Lizzo fan.

[Je me casse - "I'm breaking" in French]

You look like you're lots of fun

Our Cymbidium orchid is putting on another stunning show this year!

I've had another busy weekend in the garden, despite the chilly wind - two overgrown pots of pink phlox dug out, split up and the remaining bits planted up into one big pot, and a similar job done on the Salvia × jamensis "Nachtvlinder" (this time, one pot split between two new ones), plus a bit more pottering and pruning besides. Much more yet to do, but I think that'll suffice for one weekend!

Meanwhile - you know when you're getting old when you realise...

... that this faboo choon was actually Number One in our charts 40 years ago this week! Gulp.

Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

And, to think - just last week we were stood in awe before one of the frock coats he wore around the time of this video...

Of orchids, concrete and twirls

We are proud parents to FORTY baby Cymbidium orchid flowers this year!

With all that elegance on show, what better way to celebrate than with a bit of Soft Tempo Lounge?

Soft Tempo Lounge - Poise

Ah, that's better (despite all that ghastly brutalist London architecture)...

[Music: Edwin Astley & His Orchestra - Halo].

As Mother Nature proudly spreads her new green carpet

Finally, it would appear that Spring has arrived! The sunshine and balmy temperatures have perked the plants up no end, and everything is either sprouting or blooming as we speak. Yesterday I spent a few hours helping our friend John-John in potting-up some new plants he'd bought for his back yard; and today I spent all day in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers, tackling some of our large salvias - we now have three S. patens "Deep Blue" and two S. ulignosa; and in previous weeks we also divided our big yellow dahlia into two, and our phlox into three, so the garden will be even more of a jungle this summer than it was last year...

...and, to top it all, our Cymbidium orchid (as pictured above) has fourteen beautiful flowers on an impressive 4ft spike - and it's only the second time it has bloomed in its life!

All this floral goodness deserves an appropriate bit of "Sunday music" to celebrate, and what better than this Spring medley by the impeccable Dame Julie and the man they described as the "greatest living entertainer in the world"?

Julie Andrews & Sammy Davis Jr. - Medley of Spring Songs

Medley includes: I Love You, Spring Is Here, Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most, April In Paris, It Happens Every Spring, It Might As Well Be Spring.

Lovely.

A little bit more

A "coming-of-age" today.

Eighteen years ago this week, my late partner Garry and I took what was to be our last holiday together - to the garden island of Madeira, an idyllic place. It was in the market of Funchal that I purchased a single bulb of a Cymbidium orchid. It thrived, and grew, and it multiplied, but only ever produced a profusion of leaves.

Until now!

So, on its eighteenth birthday, we (finally) have the most gloriously OTT show of exotic lime and crimson flowers at Dolores Delargo Towers.

And, to lift our spirits on this Tacky Music Monday, here is a magnificent song that entered the UK chart this very week in 1996 - it's Gina G and Ooh, Aah... Just A Little Bit!

Gina G - Ooh, Aah... Just A Little Bit

I still love that song.

Gina G on the Eurovision Song Contest website

About Cymbidium orchids