Bear's breeches

Today's the day ......................... for something special

The rather strange plant above is an Acanthus, or bear’s breeches, which was in the garden when we arrived - but as it never flowered until this year, we had no idea what it actually looked like.

It was possibly because Will had chopped back some very old and huge rhododendrons so that they got lots of sunshine, that they decided to flower.  We're so glad they did because they are pretty eye-catching and much loved by bees.  

And it's not just the flowers, the leaves are quite special too (see extra)  Apparently the shape of the leaf of this plant inspired the ancient Greek sculptor Callimachus to model the capital of the Corinthian column - and for centuries, stone or bronze stylized versions of acanthus leaves have appeared as decorations on certain styles of architecture and furniture.  Virgil described Helen of Troy as 'wearing a dress embroidered with Acanthus leaves'.

Not a lot of people know that .................