Review of the year: Summer 2016

It started to snow heavily on my way home yesterday evening, and it's snowing again now - just as I need to leave for work. So obviously, there's no better time to remind ourselves of last summer!

This post should have another subheading: Barbara Cartland flowers. There's a lot of pink.

The pinky-red roses in the first few photos are 'Kate' David Austin roses, and the classic dark red roses towards the end are Rosebie Morton British-grown roses - they filled the train carriage with their incredible scent on my way back from New Covent Garden Market. (On a side note, how beautiful is the name Rosebie?)

And the last four photos are from my wonderful visit to My Flower Patch.

Back to the snow: wrap up warm and drive/walk carefully!

Stay beautiful

This is one of those things where I look back at and think, "I could have done better". The fact it was for one of my favourite lecturers and from the whole year group at uni (yikes - pressure) probably adds to that. But she seemed delighted with them, which is the main thing. She has taught me over four years, and she mixes pink and red, sometimes with animal print, to gorgeous effect - hence the combination of flowers and the tiger-print wrapping (from Paperchase, if you want some for yourself).

Scented 'Kate' David Austin roses, red sweet peas, and pink clematis (which symbolises "mental beauty" in the language of flowers - buy some for yourself if you've got end of year exams or coursework!) were from Dennis Edwards at the market. Our lecturer grows clematis but had never seen it as a cut flower before, which was nice.

The rest was from the garden or foraged. Apple blossom smells incredible when first cut, but doesn't last very long, unfortunately. The sudden heatwave last week didn't help the flowers, although the sunshine was much appreciated and long overdue. Blue flowering rosemary (for remembrance) combined with the roses and sweet peas made for one sweet-smelling bouquet.

I used a Charbonnel et Walker tin - but I'd already aqua-packed the bouquet, so I can't guarantee if the tins are watertight. They are too beautiful to keep hidden in a cupboard though!

I cannot believe I spent three hours sunning myself outdoors with a friend on Sunday. I know it's not great for florists, but bring back the sunshine! (And sorry, but it's been a while since I've shamelessly used a Manics song or lyric for a title. To be fair, they do love their animal print as well.)

Sunflowers in time for Pollinator Awareness Week

I know there seems to be a special day, week or month for everything these days, but here is another one: Pollinator Awareness Week.

Bees are not my favourite things when I am faced with them. I've only been stung once, but that was quite enough for me, thank you. I was on a romantic date, watching Romeo and Juliet in Stratford-upon-Avon, looking very glamorous with an ice pack clamped to my arm all evening!

So even though I shy away from bees, I also grow flowers to attract them because I know how vital pollinators are. As luck would have it, the first sunflowers I've ever grown (from seed) showed their pretty faces this week. And the bees are all over them already!

I never used to like sunflowers much - they were too bright and impactful for me. But then my lovely ex bought me these once, and I came around to them. This is a terrible photo that I took of them, but the sunflowers were wonderful and made me smile.

Now I like to combine the yellow, happy flowers with equally impactful blue hydrangeas. I got these from Tregothnan - I don't think I'll ever grow hydrangeas as big as these and certainly not as blue.

Or more brights, such as the pink snapdragons, orange celosia, and lime green Thlasbi 'Green Bell' that I used here. And yes, bees did follow me as I carried these to the photoshoot!

British Summer Time

I accidentally set my alarm for 6.20 this morning, instead of 7.20 - I forgot it was so clever it would add the extra hour by itself! It was good to get an early start on my uni work, but it's a shame the weather is so gloomy and rainy outside.

But it is now British Summer Time. Which means longer, brighter evenings, and eventually more of this: buckets of colourful, scented flowers from the garden!

The year in flowers

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December