Friday 6 May 2011

Good old Monty Don

I was asked for an interview the other day about what inspires me and at the time I gave some generic blah comment when I should have said MontyDon's Italian Gardens on BBC 2. This programme is a feast of visual pleasure.

In fact I'm nipping out shortly to buy a lemon tree because I love them so much. I've always loved lemons, I would suck them as a child and still do. Mainly I love the shape, colour and the fact they represent the Mediterranean countries. Monty Don has reminded me why I love Italy so much. I always struggle to pick my favourite from France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Morocco or Tunisia. I've never been to Turkey and whilst I love the Dalmatian coast and the beautiful town of Dubrovnik, the afore mentioned 6 get me every time with their food, lemons or bourgainvillea. It is the vivid display of strong colours like yellow and pink, against a backdrop of buildings, blue sky and arid heat. If I close my eyes I can smell it all too. I once stepped off a plane at Athens airport at 4am in the morning and breathed in the smell of hot tarmac!

Luckily for viewers Monty sticks to the point in his programme (unlike me in my posts) and take the viewer through a historical journey of Italian Gardens revealing power, corruption, wealth, love affairs and creativity as well as fitting in an ice cream shop! It is inspiring stuff and makes me want to wear a Stella McCartney citrus print pencil skirt as well as put Italy at number 1 on my list.


13 comments:

  1. I'm not really getting the current love for citrus print things. Citrus colours, yes, but I don't see an orange print skirt being that versatile in the long run...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love Monty and all things Italian. Sorry I have great big size 7 feet, the sandals will be too big for you - I might give them another try.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not familiar with Monty Don, but I love gardening shows! I know a lot of folks are crazy about those citrus prints, but to me they look like they should be floating in a sangria.
    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi there! Lovely skirt, so inspirational for Summer x

    ReplyDelete
  5. My office is right next to the Stella shop. I walk past the fruity window and sigh with lust every single day!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love citrus trees. They smell so lovely when they flower and of course it is wonderful to have fresh fruit.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love monty don and the skirt is something I need in life! x

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love Monty too. My friend met him at Gardeners World Live, so jealous! Fab skirt print, way out of my price range though.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love all citrus trees - I have lemon, calamondin, lime and kaffir lime in my courtyard! Can admire that print from afar, but it's not something I could imagine wearing ...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lady Cherry - way out of mine too unless I get lucky!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh I caught up with that last night, what a great programme, how utterly beautiful are all of those gardens?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Kate, I love Monty Don's programme. I bought a miniature orange tree from Columbia Road for £20 last year. It lasted all year and all the oranges stayed on it the whole time. As soon as it got cold all the oranges and leaves fell off even though I brought it inside and it still hasn't recovered xx

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love that skirt. The whole citrus thing is more prosaic for me - it reminds me of picnics by the river in North Yorkshire. I'd make do with Italy though... ;) xx

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting, much appreciated. Sorry about no longer offering anonymous comments but spamming had become a very annoying issue. xxx