Red at Anfield, of course

Now a football ground might not be the place you’d expect to find flower beds and planting, but that’s exactly what we did find in the approach to the Hillsborough memorial in the grounds of Anfield. I remember watching the tragedy as it unfurled at the time, and no doubt we’re all aware of the fight for justice, which still continues, that the families are facing.

I’d expected the memorial to be moving, and it was. What I wasn’t expecting to find was flowers, red of course, on the approach to the memorial. The crocosmias added to the poignancy I think and I suspect they’re ‘Red King’ rather than the more usual Lucifer variety.

Either way, they were in flower and looked great and somehow added to the tribute and helped set the mood for the space.

Love this #85 Superlambananas

Now, before our weekend in Liverpool Superlambananas wasn’t even in my vocabulary. I mean, it’s not a usual kind of word, is it? But it’s a fun one to say (it’s said as you think it would be) and add a Scouse accent to that and it’s an absolutely fantastic word, especially when said with a straight face.

But anyway, these were all over the city and were part of the city’s celebration when Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture in 2008. They are, as you’d imagine, a cross between a lamb and a banana and the largest of them stands at 5.2 metres tall, and was designed by New York City-based Japanese artist Taro Chiezo.

We saw the giant yellow Superlambanana while on the open topped bus ride to Anfield. The city are proud of these sculptures and rightly so, and like so many of these sculpture trails they bring a fun element to the area with their designs and requirement to be photographed, and as you can see from the rest of this post, I joined that club too.

THE LARGEST - BICYCLE LEFT IN FOR SCALE

OUR FIRST: ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN SUPERLAMBANANA

THE FIRST OF THE FOUR SUPERLAMBANANAS OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL

What do you think, are you a Superlambanana fan - or convert? And have you followed the trail?

The parterre at Helmingham Hall

We’re getting about a bit this week with the posts I’m sharing, so in between quick visits to Lisbon on Tuesday and Italy tomorrow, today we’re somewhere a little closer to home and have landed in Suffolk. In the parterre at Helmingham Hall to be precise. It’s a great garden to visit, another independent garden where you’re never quite sure what you’re going to find.

We visited during our Suffolk break, and I was surprised to see I’ve only shared a single post from our visit so far, and if you’re a fan of knot gardens, then this is worth a visit if you’re in the area. I originally planned to share photos from the Potager, but somehow my fingers had other ideas, but who am I to argue?

While first off this garden might look very traditional, and its choice of plants - box hedging and santolina, it’s not quite as traditional as you’d expect. It’s in good company as that’s the combination used in the formal gardens of Chenonceau too, though the santolina (the light coloured plant) was more densely planted in Suffolk, which brought a bolder ‘stripe’ to the parterre.

The other less traditional thing, but gorgeously so, are these pink cosmos which on our visit were used in the central bed.

From a distance, I assumed they were roses, so it was quite a discovery when I got close enough. While I’m converting to roses, i think because these weren’t roses, it was even more of an exciting discovery. It’s quirks like this, or the plant you don’t expect to see that makes a garden a garden and not a forumaic reproduction of what we know works.

It’s a great space, calming and viewable from the house across the moat - which if I’ve not mentioned before is pretty and fascinating, though sadly not open, but I mean, it has a moat. And surely that means you can imagine anything you like about the place and the reality would never match up to it.

The other thing this garden has, which appeals to me, is those gates which lead to the Potager. So soon, I’ll share more of what’s behind them as I’m rather partial to those too, as i discovered at Cheverny.