Fenny Drayton

[poliphilo]

We left the battlefield, heading west. The village of Fenny Drayton has no connection (that I know of) with the Wars of the Roses, but we made a detour because the name is so pretty and the sun was shining. We weren't disappointed.

Ah, the magnolia tree! 

And the local sandstone! Some of it pink , some of it green...

Comments

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I love magnolias.

A few miles from where my parents live there is a large park in connection with one of the Queen's provincial summer residences. The park is mainly a large, sloping sheet of grass, descending from the palace down towards the sea, but to one side there is a garden with a sries of formal "garden rooms". I used to go there every spring at night, preferably when the moon was out, and take a walk down the magnolia garden where the blossoms would be hovering eerily above the path, glowingly pale in the moonlight and set against the dark sky. It was my own little secret place; at 2am you can have your own private part of a public garden...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I can imagine just how lovely that must have been.

I was surprised to find I could identify the tree. It's remarkable the informtion we carry around with us and don't know we know until we're tested!

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Enchanting photos, Tony, I really love the 2nd and 3rd ones especially.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I love it when one just happens upon something remarkable. I find the biggest treats are the ones that come as a complete surprise- like this churchyard magnolia.

[cosmolinguist]

Those pictures are gorgeous. I especially like the second one.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I fell in love with the magnolia...

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that you have the same sort of magnolia we do! There is a large one in a front yard just down the block from us which blooms magnificently for about two weeks, usually in April. Perhaps it is an import in both our lands.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've just looked up magnolia in Richard Mabey's magnificent Flora Britannica and he doesn't list it, which must mean it isn't a native species.

I'm not surprised.

Where does it originate, then?

[jenny_evergreen]

From googling:
The genus Magnolia contains about 80 species native to: North America [8], West Indies [8], and Asia [50].

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Wow. 80 species....

I did wonder whether it was an American native. I sort of associate it with the deep south.

[intotheraw.livejournal.com]

The magnolias here (I am in Iowa, in the middle of America) look similar to the one in the photograph, though they are a bit more pink in color. Down south (remember the film Steel Magnolias?) they range in size and color, with flower blossoms as large as my head, and colors so deep and richly pink that the white edging is almost lost.

I am trying to put a magnolia in my front garden.

These photos are lovely.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, it's probably because of that movie that I associate magnolias with the south.

It's a wonder they grow so well here- in our mild, rainy climate.

[jenny_evergreen]

Me, too. I suppose it got brought over from Asia in ancient times. :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the first Americans carried cuttings with them when they crossed over into Alaska...

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Springtime blossoms in a cemetery. I like what it alludes to. Circle of life and all that.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. It's unusual to find a flowering tree in a churchyard. One expects evergreens...

[tispity.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous pictures! The spring sunshine really brings out the warmth of the different colours in the stone.

It is ususual - but beautiful - to see a flowering tree in a churchyard.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I love how the stone has weathered and mellowed. It's had time to do so; it's been in place for over 600 years.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

Absolutely gorgeous!