Many magnolias bloom in March in London, and on Marylebone Road yesterday a tree lived up to expectations.

Perhaps it was even a little early because one or two petals had already fallen.

Then again, magnolias do lose their petals quickly, and it’s normal to see petals littering the ground while other flowers are newly opened.

Also, with all the passing cars and the heat pumped out by buildings, in a city it’s hard to know what the normal temperature is for the time of year.

A friend I met again after fifteen years or more, was about to sell the contents of his apartment in London. I say ‘his’ but it was the apartment of he and his partner. As I don’t know what his partner’s contribution to the aesthetic was, I will stick with ‘his’.

I know my friend has a longstanding relationship with interior design because I visited him when he lived in Jerusalem and he had a somewhat similar setup.

Actually, I was impressed then by the way he layered the furnishings. I think gardeners will recognise the technique of putting the tall stuff at the back and building forward from that to create a sense of space that is bigger than the actual physical dimensions.

As the contents were to be sent to auction, I photographed the sitting room, and then we walked around while he told me where he picked up this and that. He had travelled a lot, in parts of the world where most people don’t go, so the items were interesting.