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Like Larkin, he took his subjects oddly and greedily: the death of bookshops, trimming plumbago, old silos, a man whose uncle held the dying Nelson on the deck of H.M.S.

After a month away, I found my garden had lost much of its greenery except for the plumbago – which I found in full bloom.

Among the streets worst hit: Via Ondulando, a typical postwar street of ranch and Spanish homes, diamond grid windows, lush front lawns, birds of paradise, baby blue plumbago, Italian cypress.

I set the glass in a heap on the table, then picked up my small table-book and plumbago pencil.

Until then, prospective buyers can admire the roughly 200-foot gated driveway surrounded by olive, lemon and palm trees, and blooms of plumbago flowers.