A leisurely wander around the City of London last weekend became a joy, revisiting spots of green which are old favourites and discovering others I'd never seen before. Some of these great sights lent themselves to cameraphone pictures, like the gorgeous Zantedeschias pictured on the left, which are flowering away in the shadow of the Old Bailey.
Others, like the two beautiful Handkerchief Trees I saw in Postman's Park, will require a personal visit. These Chinese natives are covered with most unusual flowers this time of year, hanging like white prayer flags tied to every branch. But they are frustratingly difficult to get a good picture of, because their very modest foliage and pale handkerchief flowers just merge into an undifferentiated green blur.
There was plenty to see, despite it being still early spring. I admired these purple tulips at the Barbican
(right), where they were doing a great job of spicing up the dirty
concrete entrance facade.
Grey and purple are a good combination and
these tulips - I'm guessing they are "Negrita"
- are a really effective and dramatic foil to the Barbican's monstrous
appearance - it all ends up looking almost intentional.
If you live in
a concrete block or even a grey granite Cornish pile, a purple flower
like "Negrita" will set things off beautifully, warming up the sombre
tones to brown and lifting the whole ambience.
And St Paul's
has a rose garden (left, currently full of tulips) at the south side which is
ridiculously smart, causing me to burst out laughing looking at it for
the sheer verve of all those bulbs in such neat rows.
Perhaps the tidiness is helped by the fact that there is no apparent way for human beings to actually enter it.
However
my favourite spot in the City remains the pool in front of the
Guildhall, where in summer insects hang over the water and fly amongst
the reeds (right). It is just by the old City church of St Lawrence Jewry,
which makes a great backdrop for photos.
The pool has been cleared over the winter, but the aquatic plants are just beginning to poke their heads above the water again now that the days are lengthening. What a lovely peaceful place it manages to be, slap-bang in the middle of what must officially be one of the most frantic spots on earth.
And now that I've made you look at these four City gardens, you can download a map or a self-guided walking tour and visit them and the other 196 City gardens.


It's like I keep telling people who bang on about how green other cities are, like Madrid. OK, it's hardly a tree-lined paradise, but the truth is you don't have to look far to see some green. Great post.
Posted by: Rose | Thursday, 24 April 2008 at 01:13 PM
Thanks! It was really fun. Apparently, according to a friend of mine who is a City tourist guide, I should go back and do the eastern half of the city too. And if you discover any really beautiful little spots please let me know.
Posted by: emma townshend | Thursday, 24 April 2008 at 01:43 PM
How very London-centric
Yawn
In fact - Central London-centric
Double Yawn
Posted by: Kier Hardie | Thursday, 24 April 2008 at 09:58 PM
I think you'll find that it's merely a post about London. Just because a post is about somewhere you don't live doesn't mean it can't be interesting. Do you only read articles purely about where you live? Must have a very dull life. I bet you live somewhere really dull.
Posted by: Rose | Thursday, 24 April 2008 at 10:58 PM
Kier Hardie, you are a monkey.
Posted by: emma townshend | Friday, 25 April 2008 at 02:04 PM