Years ago, I used to play the guitar, not very well I may add, and in those pre internet days, one went to a music shop and bought music to play in books. I had a book from something called the Newport Folk Festival and it was full of unfamiliar songs from over the Atlantic, a mix of folk and protest songs that were new to me.
One of the ones I really liked, probably because it was easy to play, was by Malvina Reynolds and made famous by Pete Seeger. It is called ‘God Bless the Grass’ and for some reason I was humming it as I took these pictures of the plants that have been so very busy sowing themselves round my garden, front and back as the pointing between the slabs in the paths deteriorates. I looked it up on YouTube and found that it still speaks to lots of people. I loved this version of it:
The original with Malvina Reynolds is here
I thought of waiting for a sunnier day to try and take them again, but it’s been a week and more since I posted so here are my plants that grow through the cracks waving at you all! Plant some seeds or create a little space and something will grow.
its roots they are deep and its will is to grow
The curly wurly ironwork on our railings, did I mention I prefer curves to straight lines?
A little yellow poppy
Stipa Tenuissima - we used to have these everywhere and now have their babies ever more...
An escaped primrose, a prolific and determined flower, I am finding baby rosettes of their leaves everywhere...
This little chap is another ornamental grass, one of the carex family. I thought there were no more of them but look up he has popped!
We won't even mention the red hazel tree-lings that emerge spring after spring, the squirrel sows these...
and finally the one that made me think of showing you these. Note the state of the pointing. Here is Ruby Streaks, the hardiest salad green, or should it be salad red? that I have ever grown, started shooting from seed that had self sown last autumn back in February... Go the Ruby Streaks!!
Zeb Bakes 
Smiling…smiling..smiling…God bless the grass that grows through the cracks. And the broccoflowers, and the primroses, and the fennel plants, and the poppies and all the other gloriously happy little plants in your garden and mine!
Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.’ … The Talmud
What a lovely quote – in our garden of course it is a poodle contemplating which plant to pee on, but sometimes maybe the angel whispers in his furry ear and moves him away from a particularly delicate shoot ;)
I have two arborvitae bushes – very tiny at the moment- that are growing in a ring of allium that I have in my herb garden. Tiny for arborvitaes that is- they are about 5 inches tall and at one one I considered making them into Bonsai trees- but then I looked up the procedures and discovered one had to have certain cultivars to use them for bonsai.
I like all of your volunteer self- seeders- especially the poppy and primroses.
Your spring is so far ahead of us. Scattered snow showers are in the forecast for the next couple of days.
I think I have seen huge arborvitae out at the arboretum, what fun Heidi! (I drove through sleet and snow last weekend on my travels to the Lake District – it still feels quite cold here). I hope it warms up for you soon, the poppy was for you xx
These are beautiful plants! And thus beautiful cracks :) Such a gorgeous garden you have going on.
I have neglected it lately but I am thinking of sowing some lemon thyme over the cracks and not bothering to try and concrete them down again. The only trouble is the slabs wobble, makes life quite exciting. We also have a very busy and hardworking community of ants whose mission in life is to remove sand and cement…
chin hair?… no wait you didn’t mean THOSE unexpected spots…
I’m impressed all those lovely plants have sprung up. OOOoh to have a garden to ponder life in… (and perhaps chin hairs)
Have you been looking over my shoulder in the bathroom of late? A neglected garden is a wonderful thing, though I am not so sure about my chin :)
A lovely hopeful time of the year – really lovely pictures!
Thankyou C :)
What type of grass was he asking God to bless? You certainly have a lot of interesting plants growing through your cracks. I just have ugly weeds! Not worth photographing. I love Celia’s confused cauliflower too! xx
Morning Charlie!
All the grass I guess, everything that grows. Have a read of the lyrics and a little of the background to the song : It’s been covered by loads of people, one of those songs that keeps coming back, just like the grass ….
Isn’t Celia’s confused cauli adorable?
http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/MALVINA/mr053.htm
I quite like this version too :
Great post, Joanna! I’ve never played the guitar, my music days involved the piano (classical) and lets say the world is a much better place with me away from the keyboard. Not much talent, just a bit of enthusiasm…
in my next life I will be good at gardening, and I will have a gardening blog that would amaze even you and Celia… for the time being, I just marvel at the beauty of your plants
The good thing about the guitar was that you could practise in a small room very quietly, unlike the piano, which I failed at miserably as a child. Sally in my next life I too will be good at gardening, I am getting old and stiff and one of the reasons the plants grow with such joy in the little cracks is because I just leave them be :)
We have just been in Sardinia and the wild plants growing there are amazing. They grow out of tiny crevices in the rocks, anywhere at all really. You should see the wild onion plants that grow as high as a man. The wild boar apparently love them. We saw lots, but fortunately no wild boar.
I would love to see the wild plants of Sardinia, what a wonderful time to be there when everything is growing fresh and new ! (We have wild boar here in the Forest of Dean, though I haven’t seen them …. yet…. ) ;)
I used to play the guitar too, many many moons ago, I think I was probably as good as you were but didn’t we have fun! The gift plants filling in the cracks around your home are just so sweet. good for you letting them just grow, i think the primrose is my favourite such a resilient and pretty wee thing.. c
That’s a lovely word for them – I will remember that. I have primroses everywhere this year, I am going to wait till they finish flowering and transplant a few and give some away. I had three little ones about two years ago from my neighbour and now I have over a hundred of them, they are the true English primrose, not a hybrid.
What beautiful music – i like all three versions. Made me think about Joni mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and a quote from Leonard Cohen – “There is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in”
Wow, you listened to them! I wondered if anyone ever did… I had fun finding out a bit more about the song yesterday. I love the Leonard Cohen quote Ray, thank you :)
What a lovely post, Joanna, I like the original version best and I particularly like Malvina’s face. The song makes a wonderful soundtrack to your pictures of the determined little plants.
Hearing voices while I wander around the garden, thinking I really ought to do some weeding, but then I think they can stay. I pull up the odd dandelion and some of the cleavers I find as they stick in the dog’s fur, but all the rest are welcome to stay. As the pointing crumbles there are more and more each year Jan :)
I have self-sown poppies coming up in the pots with tulips. Nature is crafty!
Hi M! I have ‘sown’ some special bread poppy seed this year! Will tell you if they come up one day. Apparently the seedpods don’t open so one can collect the pods and harvest the seed easily. I have Greek oregano seeding in my pots :)
Peder loves poppy seeds on his bread. I have trouble with them as they creap into my gums and cause mischief. I’ve started making loaves that are half-half. One half for Peder that’s all flecked with seeds, and the other half for me that’s free of itsy-bitsy seeds. I call it Farmor-Farfar bread! :D
Do you bake them in the same tin? The two ball style? Or as rolls in a round cake tin? That would look pretty too. You are very good to that husband of yours :) I know what you mean about seeds and teeth, I wish someone would bottle the aroma of toasting poppy seeds though ….
Edited : to add this pic for Misk!
I just drape a tea towel over half the tin or boule or oblong loaf or loose rolls … and then make a big mess sprinkling the seeds over the uncovered side. I’ve tried cling film but that was a disaster because it stuck to the unseeded side of the loaf, and when I pulled off the cling film, my side looked all spiky hedgehog-like.
Try dividing your dough into two, shape two or more small boules, have seeds on a saucer, either use beaten egg or a damp tea towel to gently roll one boule to dampen then roll or sprinkle your seeds on top of boule and then nest boules side by side in tin. See Dan Lepard The Handmade Loaf, simple milk tin for example of how it looks (not recipe, just picture). Two loaves in one tin!
Wow! Huge wow! What a clever method. Next time, Joanna, next time. :) Thanks.
I love your photos.. esp that primrose! And the guitar.. we were probably both playing these little folk tunes around the same time.. I love that song!!
We probably were playing those songs together, cheesecloth shirts?
Here’s a more normal eye view of one of the primroses just for you Smidge!
I love love love plants that grow up through cracks. real fighters they are.
LOVE Celia’s quote too.
You care for so many wonderful plants Emily, I have learnt a lot from your blog :)
Fantastic garden, some beautiful plants, love the yellow Welsh poppy.
This is mostly plants sneaking around the edges, I will do a tour of the garden post one of these days, but it isn’t that big a place :) Thanks for visiting me back Andrew