Between the pages..little surprises and fruity Americanisms

I love a good mystery, especially when it leads to little surprises. This morning I spotted a beauty bursting with sunshine in our garden. Unable to identify it, I went in search of my Gardeners' Encyclopedia for Plants and Flowers by The Royal Horticultural Society, a book I purchased in of a local shop when we lived in Surrey, England. We moved to Vietnam shortly after I purchased it and have since had little occasion to refer to it. 

The mystery unfolded as I turned the pages

and discovered little bits and pieces 

tucked away by the previous owner of the book.  

A 1998 sales receipt from a stationary shop 

on London Road in West Sussex, UK.
The previous owner paid £35.00
for Gardeners' Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers

and Encyclopedia of Gardening in 1998.
I paid £6.00 for both books in 2012.
I thought it was a great find at the time.
It just got a whole lot better.
I love used books!

Tucked between more pages...

A 2005 clipping from the Financial Times gardening writer,

Robin Lane Fox, on the attributes of Winter Sweet,

otherwise knows as Chimonanthss praecox.

He wrote.. 

Has there ever been such a year for Winter Sweet, 

the exquisite Chimonanthus praecox, 

the shrub with the most exotic and intimable scent 

of any which has crossed my path?

Exotic and intimable scent...I love that.

I also found...

A pamphlet on planting a pond. 

Adding a pond to Tahilla Farm is on my wish list. 

Could this be a sign?

A planting card for Corazon, Nerium Oleander.

My first plant, in my first apartment, was a white Oleander.

I love Oleander.

Planting instructions for lilies and begonias.

Who doesn't love lilies and begonias?

and...

A new plant to me: Gentiana sino-ornata

Evergreen, prostate, spreading perennial that, in autumn,

bears trumpet-shaped, rich blue flowers singly at the end of the stems.

Do you know it?

After I finished reading through the materials 

it reminded me of another book I discovered a few year ago. 

When we lived in Auckland, New Zealand, 

I went in pursuit of 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. 

Surprisingly, it was not easy to find, until the day I discovered 

Devonport Vintage Bookshop in Devonport.

I went home, turned the pages, and guess what popped out?

The previous owner of the book tucked into the pages, 

an article from the NZ Listener published on June 23 1984.

It was a review of a stage production of 84 Charing Cross Road

in the Christchurch's Court Theatre 

starring Elizabeth Moody and Richard Poore.

I especially enjoyed this part...

Elizabeth Moody's performance as Hanff was gorgeous. 

Moody is always a stage-filling person and this role suited that characteristic. 

I really enjoyed her banging away at her typewriter in time to her singing 

with a fag dangling from her mouth, and her exquisite passion for books and writing 

which expressed itself in fruity Americanisms.

Fruity Americanisms?

I can hear Anne Bancroft's character in the movie already.

Who are you calling a fruity American??

You Tube here

That was my day! 

I am still in search of that yellow beauty at the top of the page.

Any guesses?

PS..my blog site is acting strange,

if you missed my last post,

you can read 

Making a House a Home..Tahilla Farm here.