Pon pon ranunculus in the posies this week. This unusual flower was originally a freak mutation of the standard ranunculus and was considered to be malformed until a grower saw its potential and cloned it to create this reliable cultivar that is now grown commercially as a cut flower. It is lovely on our posy plot now that the weather is warmer. The cornflower, love in a mist, peonies, sweet williams and apple mint are ready to pick. We heard the cuckoo on the plot this week, marking its return to the UK from Southern Africa. In 2009, the cuckoo was added to the 'Red List' because its population declined by 65% since the 1980s. This is likely due to...
It's a celebratory weekend so, as well as white 'crown' tulips, we have a special flower tucked into the posies. It's rather discreet so your nose might find it first. It's lily of the valley! A short-flowering season and a superb fragrance, these delicate little frilly cup-shape flowers are so pretty in a shady woodland setting. Once established they grow quite rampantly even on poor soil and seem to thrive on having to fight their way to the surface each year. I've gone for a red, white and blue theme to help us celebrate the King's Coronation and it was easier said than done as I was let down with the blue iris I'd ordered but in the end I used...
It's the start of the season for beautiful bluebells. These are 'Spanish bluebells' and are another introduced species to the UK by those busy Victorians. They are grown on a small-scale as a cut flower and these ones are home-grown from Surrey. As Spanish bluebells have escaped the gardens and are more vigorous than our native bluebell, they can be seen flowering all over in disturbed areas and roadsides verges. It's important to save our native bluebell woodlands from these imposters. If you fancy bluebells in your garden, it is possible to choose our native variety (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) grown from cultivated stock which can help readdress the balance and eliminate the risk of escapees. If you love British flowers and watching...
It's not often that I include Common broom (Cytisus sp.) in the posies. Broom is a shrub from the pea family and has a short flowering season, but, lucky for us, it's in flower now! There's a lot of folklore linked with broom and its association with witches. An 'old wives' tale says it's bad luck to sweep the floor using flowering broom (as a broom!) in May. Seeing as its April, I think we'll be alright bringing broom into the home - just go easy on the Spring cleaning to be on the safe side! This white variety has been supplied by a local 'Flowers from the Farm' grower called Spindle Flowers in Dorset. They also supplied us with some superb hellebores.Now that Spring is in full...
Fragrant stocks are back in season thanks to our lovely grower in Suffolk! They have arrived a little later than anticipated due to the cold start to March, but they're worth the wait. It's been lovely to have the scent fill the studio again. Stocks are a flower crop that does really well in this country and they are often associated with an 'English garden'. They are part of the cabbage family and actually edible, so you could grow them to make a very pretty salad. We've got an interesting colour combo this week with deep reds and peaches from the hellebores, the stocks, flowering currant and alstroemeria. What's in the posy? Laurustinus, hornbeam, stock, alstroemeria, salal, flowering currant. What's fragrant?...
