Three thunderstorms and a heatwave

The hot weather has encouraged a lot of flowers to whoosh ahead and open quickly. But the first thunderstorm was a bit of a shock - I don't ever remember a storm being so loud and going on for such a long time. I certainly was not one of the people who went outside to catch a photo of the lightning! Despite the lashing rain and hailstones (hailstones in a heatwave - how does that work?!), my flowers survived.

There were lots of new flowers to enjoy - I started to cut the borage, and before long there was cleome, cosmos and ammi. I used some this weekend - but I'll save that for another post. I planted out some cleome and panicum - they look great together. Both are such explosive, unusual textures.

It's a much better year for my flowers than 2013, when I certainly didn't have enough for orders or gifts, except the occasional small posy. This year, when I cut from the garden, I usually fill several buckets - it's wonderful. Stems have been much longer this year too, which means I can used them for handtieds and big arrangements, not just small posies and short-stemmed funeral work. The phlox and 'Penny Lane' dahlias are a metre tall, the verbena a metre and a half, and the zinnias and cosmos are 85cm!

The spring-sown 'Polka Dot' cornflowers are quite short and soft-stemmed, but that's ok - I know to nurture my autumn-sown ones better in future! And anyway, they still look beautiful.

I've done a few handtieds similar to this one.

It uses borage, Nicotiana 'Lime Green', Panicum 'Frosted Explosion', Zinnia 'Early Wonder', Salvia 'Hot Lips', sweet peas ('Harlequin Mixed', 'Leominster Boy' and 'Dot Com'), hebe, hydrangea, verbena bonariensis, Scabious 'Pink Mist', and a 'Penny Lane' dahlia. That's one of the great things about using a garden or flower farm - you can have fewer stems each of a wider range of flowers and foliage, rather than wraps and boxes of the same species and variety.

I was asked to do casual, colourful flowers for a family gathering - so I did this grouping in Portmeirion Botanic Garden vases and bowls, a Dartington Little Gems vase, a La Mortuacienne bottle, and a tiny green bud vase. I took these photos in a hurry as I heard thunder rumbling in the distance! I quickly took everything indoors and photographed the Portmeirion pieces together.

The roses are back! I used a few to make this red, white and peach posy, and I cut a few 'Jude the Obscure' David Austin roses for their incredible scent. Mixed with flowering Moroccan mint, salvia, phlox and nicotiana, these were two sweet-smelling additions to the group.

My Summer of Love

This summer is flying by. I’ve been busy with floristry stuff and looking for work. Oh, and I’m moving today. But here are some photos from the last few months.

This is a hand-tied with lilac, phlox, Queen Anne’s Lace and asparagus fern.

The next few arrangements are all made of garden flowers. This one has William Shakespeare 2000 roses, Jude the Obscure roses and chocolate cosmos.

Roses, a Cariad rose, hydrangea and chocolate cosmos.

This one has roses, jasmine and sweet peas.

Here is a small jug of chocolate cosmos and roses. I cut them a few days ago, and the roses have opened up beautifully now.

A small jug of sweet peas, which are such great cutting flowers – they just grow and grow!

And finally, here they are with Peter Parker's Peonies!



David Austin in December

I have been dreaming about going to visit David Austin's gardens ever since I first read about him in the spring. He has bred and grown English roses for decades, and now has hundreds to his name. You can usually find some of his rose plants in garden centres, and some florists use his specially-bred cut garden roses for arrangements, particularly for weddings. Claire Cowling used his roses for a stunning wedding display - if you can get hold of Fusion Flowers Weddings magazine 2011/2012 or the book Florever Wherever, then take a look for yourself.

I have a Jude the Obscure and a William Shakespeare 2000 rose plant at home, although roses don't seem to thrive that well in my town. I'm not sure if it's the air, water, soil, or if we're just not good at growing roses!

Anyway, I got the chance to visit the David Austin centre in Albrighton, near Wolverhampton, this week. Even though it's December, I still thought it would be worth a visit. I wasn't disappointed. Despite the time of year and the cold, a walk around the vast gardens, followed by lunch in the pretty cafe, was a lovely way to spend a weekday afternoon.

I'm definitely planning another trip there in the summer!

The London Film Festival and the India-set Thomas Hardy

I tend to go a bit crazy at this time of year. Work and the outside world get put on hold, while I spend two weeks and far too much money on the London Film Festival. Now that I’m a student again, I’ve tried to be a bit more sensible and I’ve just allowed myself one week of LFF films, instead of the usual two.  I love to see big films that I’ve been waiting ages for, small films by actors and directors I’ve never heard of, world cinema that I probably wouldn’t choose to watch normally, and new British films. I’ve been moved and delighted as Colin Firth finally won me over with his incredible performance in A Single Man and Tom Ford didn’t fail to disappoint with his first feature, I’ve cheered as (spoiler alert) James Franco was eventually free of his arm in 127 Hours, I managed to hold back tears as I watched Brilliante Mendoza’s Foster Child, and failed to hold them back as Abbie Cornish shook my core in Bright Star. LFF 2007 was also the first time I cried at the cinema, at the beautiful film Grace is Gone, which I believe sadly never got a UK distributor. And now LFF 2011 is the first time that I’ve left a film dry-eyed, but wept when I got home.

I’ve talked about Jude the Obscure before – it’s a beautiful David Austin rose, and a depressing Thomas Hardy novel. Tess of the D’Urbervilles is also both of these – it’s a dark red rose, a little bit like William Shakespeare 2000. The book was adapted by Roman Polanski in 1979 and the BBC in 2008, and now Michael Winterbottom has used the story as inspiration for a story set in modern day India. The film screened on Saturday at the festival to two packed audiences.

I absolutely loved Gemma Arterton’s Tess in the BBC series. She was strong, feisty and outspoken (and on a superficial note, she was the reason – along with Karen Carpenter – that I took the plunge and decided to get a fringe). Freido Pinto’s Trishna is quieter, more passive, but also a little more difficult to read, which is not a bad thing. As there are some significant changes from the book, and some clever updating, I don’t want to spoil the film by talking about the plot. However, I will say that there was a point when I thought, ‘For goodness’ sake, Michael Winterbottom, don’t you know when to stop? This is why you get accused of misogyny!’ But then something happened, and I wasn’t thinking that for much longer.

If you’ve not read Tess of the D’Urbervilles or seen any filmed versions, but you were one of millions who were moved by Little Mo’s plight in EastEnders or Jackie McQueen’s in Hollyoaks, then you may enjoy Trishna. Although ‘enjoy’ isn’t really the right word.

I saw my last film of the festival today – Richard Linklater’s wonderful black comedy, Bernie, in which Jack Black plays an assistant funeral director who the whole town loves. I’m pleased to report that there were no tears today!

The remains of the day

I only had two arrangements left over from the weekend – a mass of chrysanthemum heads arranged in floral foam, and a bouquet with different roses, hypercium berries, and aspidistra leaves. I met a friend for lunch earlier this week and gave her the latter – hopefully the flowers will last a couple more days. The chrysanthemums are with me, and they still look brand new.

With the few flowers remaining, I did three little arrangements for me. I re-arranged the teapot using new roses from the garden (spot the Jude the Obscure), I tried to match the colours of the spray roses and hypercium berries with the bright vase from Clermont-Ferrand, and I was delighted to have an excuse to use the Elizabeth Blackadder ‘Poppies’ jug that I’d got in the sale from the Royal Academy of Arts (my favourite gallery in London).

Jude the Obscure roses

I was so excited when I discovered Jude the Obscure roses. I bought a rose bush, developed by David Austin Roses, earlier this summer, and some new buds have developed in the last week. The roses are a delicate apricot yellow colour, neatly formed, and they have a gorgeous, heady scent. I'm hoping more will open up in the next few days and I'll be able to use some in small posies at the Chinbrook Meadow art and craft fair this weekend.

We read Tess of the D'Urbervilles at school and the Mayor of Casterbridge at college, but even those tales of woe didn't prepare me for Jude the Obscure. Thomas Hardy writes such evocative, epic tales, but man, does he like his mis-lit! Jude himself has a pretty unfortunate life, suffering from heartbreak and social discrimination. But the scene where Jude's son takes his destiny into his own hands, with devastating consequences, will haunt me forever. It’s my favourite Hardy book, but not one to read if you’re already feeling blue.

I almost wish that garden roses flowered in February so that I could do an Unrequited Love arrangement for Valentine's Day, with Jude the Obscure, Lady of Shalott and Ophelia roses!