Lavender Tucked into the posies are lavender flowers. Give them a little pinch and enjoy their distinctive floral, herby smell. The name 'lavender' comes from the Latin 'lavare' to wash. Ancient Egyptians used lavender as a deodorant and as an ingredient in mummification and Romans used it in cooking and bathing. Lavender was highly prized and buying a pound of lavender in Roman times would set you back a month's wages. Lavender is used today to fragrance soaps and shampoos and it is known for its antiseptic and antibiotic properties. Lavender oil is used to reduce anxiety and stress, aid sleep and balance emotions. Right now is the best time to go and skip through a lavender field. You might have one near you....
What's my Flower of the Week? I've decided to start selecting my Flower of the Week but I'm already spoilt for choice as there's lots of new faces in the posy this week. Pinks are in season and appear for the first time, as does white gypsophila and agapanthus. However, I'm going to plump for Eryngium as my first flower of the week (a polite round of applause please).Some of you may know this blue thistle-like flower as 'sea holly' (Eryngium maritimus) as it grows wild in coastal areas of the UK. This carrot family member also has a lesser known native whitish-green variety, the 'field eryngo' (Eryngium campestre) which is rare and persists predominantly in a handful of protected sites...
It's July already! You can find gorgeous blue scabious in the posies this week. Although I have lots of favourites, it really is my ultimate favourite flower. I love its true-blue colour, the textured centre and floaty petals. As it's a delicate bloom, you won't find it anywhere near a supermarket near you, so I hope you enjoy this special fleeting summer beauty. Also in the posy is our 'harlequin' variety sweet peas which are stunning and there's plenty more additional fragrance from the lavender, stock and phlox.If you entered our exciting Facebook competition to win a year of MeadowSweet posies, the winner has now been notified. Apologies if it wasn't you but, if you entered, do check your inbox...
MeadowSweet is proud to announce its support for the charity Rewilding Britain by donating 1% of its gross annual sales. Rewilding Britain carry out a wide range of activities to catalyse rewilding across all of Britain. They facilitate research, community engagement, influence policy and provide funding for innovative rewilding projects, such as seagrass restoration, tree seeding and carbon capture modelling. 'Rewilding' can be described as the large-scale restoration of ecosystems, whereby nature is allowed to take care of itself. Rewilding seeks to reinstate natural processes and, where appropriate, missing species, to shape the landscape and the habitats within. Rewilding encourages a balance between people and the rest of nature providing opportunities for communities to diversify and create nature-based economies and for living systems to provide...
Homegrown and full of fragrance There's a lot going on in the garden at the moment and we've got another 100% homegrown posy with a whopping 16 different ingredients. Our flowers and foliage are grown by Mum in Surrey, me in Dorset and from the plot in Hampshire! This is also the most fragrant posy this year with six fragrant ingredients including homegrown sweet peas and lavender.I'm including flower food sachets again in the local boxes today and would be grateful to hear how you're getting on with them and whether you welcome this addition. They're not everyone's cup of tea but these are the most 'eco' ones you can get and they do help to extend the life of cut...
