01/07/2023
British Flowers Week may be ending but I reckon the celebration has to be every day, of the seasonal freshness, beauty and breathtaking variety of locally grown flowers, and the pure joy they bring to grow and give!
Looking back at my May, you can tell by the growing number of pic collages that things were getting pretty busy out there! Fancy choosing to go away on holiday at the height of seedling production and tulip flowering in the garden 🤦♀️. However, I got more than my 'fix' enjoying the amazing Sussex gardens and wild flower banks and, guess what - the tulips were still blooming back home well into June. They didn't want to leave the party and neither did I!
The rest of the garden burst into colour with wisteria and azaleas. For picking, I had a much better year for ranunculus and (first time) anemones; alliums and spires of lupins - the colours shifted to bright purples and mauves, white and pinks. Grow what you love, they say...
The rains and warmth also sprung a jungle overnight and I have since had more than one little weep, feeling sheer overwhelm that I can't 'keep on top of it'! Most of the time, I manage to tell myself that all the 're-wilding', whether it's intended or not, is best for the wildlife, which is true of course. So many more nesting birds and butterflies on the nettles already this year ...
May brought a lovely wedding date for arranging bouquets, buttonholes and church flowers, also using many dried grasses, seed & flower heads which were all grown and dried here last season. Nothing ever wasted.
The construction of a mini-greenhouse has been my latest favourite thing, and plans are also afoot for an irrigation system as it is becoming harder to keep everything watered enough, and after all the hard work of raising the flowers from seed and bulb, I desperately want them to really thrive!
