We have just finished watching the Prom on BBC Four. I enjoy televised orchestras, assuming I like whatever it is that they're playing, because of the way the cameras zoom in on the instrument of the moment, or pan back during the dramatic climaxes. And the Albert Hall is a dreadfully inconvenient place to get back from when you live in north Essex, what with the trek back to Liverpool Street and then the late night trains. And last time I was there it didn't really have air conditioning, but that was over a decade ago and things may have moved on since then. And it's free to watch on the telly.
Tonight's orchestra was Swiss, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, founded in 1868. I have just had a look at their website, which has photos of the musicians, section by section. The first violins are posed conventionally, holding their violins in front of two big windows with a view of (presumably) Zurich. The second violins are in a sports stadium, and the violas have gone al fresco and are playing their violas in a park. The oboes strike debonair attitudes by a fountain, and the trumpets jazz postures in front of some colourful urban street art. The trombones go one better, ridng in pedalos. The tuba and the harp must have been lonely on their photoshoots, since each is in a section of only one musician, but the harpist has found some dromedaries to pose with (or Bactrian camels. They have two humps). And we think the Swiss have no sense of humour. Actually, tonight's encore with cowbells proved that they do, but it is very Swiss.
As the hot weather goes on I've been playing the game of Remember where you planted everything, and Spot the one you forgot about and haven't watered. So far all I've found that's suffered is the bun shaped conifer, which has got a disc of sunburn on one shoulder but is green underneath so should recover without having a permanent bald patch. The Systems Administrator asked whether it had really caught the sun, or whether one of the cats had peed on it, but I'm pretty sure it was the sun. It didn't smell of cat, and the damage was all on the surface. A spraying tom cat injects urine several inches inside even something as dense as clipped box.
About the penstemon, it is not just the colour of the flowers that you are buying when you choose a particular variety. Penstemons vary in hardiness and longevity, and apart from having flowers in a particularly good shade of wine red, 'Garnet' is noted for being persistent in the garden, cold tolerant and long lived, while some varieties tend to fade away. And it is generous with its blooms even if you don't get round to dead heading it. I am now confused about whether or not the flowers should have a white flash at the throat, though. I don't remember 'Garnet' having any such thing, but the RHS website says that it does. However, my book on penstemons doesn't mention any white markings, only that the tube is pencilled in deep carmine red, and nor does the description on the Beth Chatto website. The RHS have uploaded a large number of descriptions in a fairly short space of time. Is it possible that they have made a mistake?
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