Chilly Bike Ride to Portsmouth

     On Friday the weather man told me that if I had any outdoor plans for the weekend, that I should make them for Saturday, as a nor'easter would be rolling in on Sunday. So I got up Saturday morning, had my coffee, found my Felcos, and headed outside to tend to my neglected back garden, only to feel rain. I may do wet, and I may do cold, but I don't do wet and cold. I went back inside intending to wait out the rain, but started watching Babylon Berlin on Netflix, and didn't stop watching until it was time for bed. If you don't mind subtitles this is an excellent series set in late 20's, pre-Nazi Berlin, a time and place that intrigues me. I have since read that Babylon Berlin is the most expensive German TV series ever produced, and I can see why. They spent a lot of time recreating the look and feel of the era. However, I think they could have saved a ton of money by cutting back on the number of cigarettes the characters smoke, and they smoke constantly. With cigarettes running about 6.00 € currently, and with at least an entire pack consumed every 5 minutes, in a multi-episode series, that's a lot of Euros.

     Pardon the digression. When I woke up on Sunday, and saw that it was not raining, I decided to ride my bike to Olde Towne Portsmouth before gardening. This blog has been to Olde Towne several times before. To get there I rode to downtown Norfolk, and there got on the ferry to Portsmouth. There were so few people out and about, that both city centers looked as if they may be under evacuation orders. Given the cold dank weather, it was no surprise.

     Waiting for the ferry, I had time to ponder gulls, as well as The Hotel of Unresolved Issues, a place I was twice employed. 

     Once in Olde Towne I found much in bloom. Crabapples planted around the old Norfolk County courthouse nicely framed the building, as well as the adjacent Confederate memorial. One of these days I may share my thoughts on such memorials, but I haven't figured out how to say what I want to say without coming across as someone I am not. Besides, my thoughts are still fluid on the matter.

    Unfortunately, there are a lot of Callery pears in Olde Towne. I guess Portsmouth hasn't gotten the invasive species memo yet. One was blooming next to one of my favorite houses in Olde Towne, which currently happens to be for sale. According to Zillow, it has been in the same family for four generations.

     Speaking of invasive species, English ivy looks very nice here, but it is a scourge in many local woodlands.

     Next to St. John's Episcopal, one of Olde Towne's many churches, I saw a quince blooming. I think it is one of the new Double Take series (Chaenomeles speciosa Double Take™ Scarlet).

     I have always wanted to see what the inside of St. John's looks like, but have never had the chance. So I googled it, and had to borrow a photo from the church's web site to share. I hope they don't mind; it is lovely.

     Another Olde Towne church, Monumental United Methodist, recently made the news when its steeple caught fire. As a lapsed Methodist, I am glad the rest of the church was spared, and that the steeple is being restored. It was a local landmark, and one of the taller structures in downtown Portsmouth.

     Don't you love robust columns and a strong pediment?

     I lived in Olde Towne Portsmouth right out of college in the apartment building below. Built in 1851, it began life as part of the Macon Hotel, ironic for me at the time because I was working at the Hotel of Unresolved Issues across the river in Norfolk. During the Civil War it was one of the city's many hospitals, so it is no wonder I thought the place was haunted. 

     Thanks for riding with me! If you would like to walk with me, my 2018 Winter Walk-Off continues, with entries accepted through March 19th.

Fog and Roses

Friday morning found me once again in Portsmouth for another TV segment, outdoors in the fog.  It was probably not the best weather to televise the "after" part of a garden renovation we did for the station, but sometimes you have got to go with what you have been given.  However, the weather was good for photography, unless you were wanting to get a picture across the river of the Norfolk skyline.

One bright spot on the otherwise gray waterfront were these Knockout Roses, which seem to be everywhere these days.

I came across lots of other roses away from the river in Olde Towne (I hate this spelling).  The ones below are more Knockouts and what I think are Graham Thomas, one of the David Austin roses. These were growing behind the Pass House where 150 years ago citizens in Union occupied Portsmouth obtained a pass to travel across the river to Confederate Norfolk.

This is likely Blaze blooming in front of the B.P.O.E hall, a.k.a. Madblood's mansion.

Peace maybe?

I am not sure which one this is, but notice how it matches the window trim.

Here are two more unknown-to-me varieties.

While I was taking the photo below, the homeowner came out and told me they have lived in the house for 40 years, and the white rose has been blooming and climbing into the mulberry tree each of those years.

Roses were not the only blooms in Olde Towne on Friday.  One of my favorite houses had a pomegranate (Punica granatum) in full bloom.

Oenothera speciosa, Pink Evening Primrose

Passiflora caerulea, Passion Vine

Philadelphus coronarius, Mockorange

(You can see the entire set of pictures here on my Flickr page.)

Old Towne Garden Tour

This past Saturday I attended The Secret Garden Tour in Old Towne Portsmouth.  Most of the houses in Old Towne are flush to the front sidewalk and are separated from their neighbors by narrow passageways that lead to small intimate back gardens.  The gardens on the tour had several things in common besides their size.  They were all attached to houses that were over 100 years old, there were many potted containers in use, and most of the gardens were paved with old bricks and cobblestones (likely brought here as ship's ballast).  A couple of the gardens on the tour have been the victims of damaging floods over the past couple of years, but you would not have known it on Saturday.  Despite their similarities each of these gardens was a unique expression of the gardener(s), and there was little evidence someone else did the work for them.

Gardenia jasminoides

Yarrow (Achillea)

Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)

Several Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla)

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

The last garden I visited was the largest on the tour, and it was the only one to have a lawn.  However, the lawn was made of Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus) with the edges defined by taller, uncut Mondo surrounding a larger area of cut Mondo.  In the center of the lawn was one of the most impressive Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia) I have ever seen.

Braided Oleander (Nerium oleander)

If you have are a regular follower of this blog, you know I visit Old Towne frequently and once lived there.  You can see my previous visits to the neighborhood here and here.