London, Spring

 A few weekends ago I was in London to visit my brother 

The weather was glorious and while this was a family weekend 

I did manage to squeeze in a few shop visits 

Mini bouquets on Dalston High street

I finally got to visit 

FOLKLORE

in Islington 

a beautifully curated shop 

simplicity

honesty

integrity

as I made my way up Islington high street I popped in to 

OTTOLENGHI

I didn't stay........

I love Ottolenghi,

but now that he is a "celebrity"

the place was rammed!

well, it was a saturday afternoon

bought some cookies to go and kept on moving

Next I popped in to 

ATELIER ABIGAIL AHERN

which was mostly full of beautiful faux flowers

Next was a trip to 

AESOP

where it seemed like a really good idea to part with a large chunk of cash for some beautiful products 

Since I have been home Spring has well and truly landed 

Every year it feels like a full body stretch after being curled in a ball for 5 long cold months

Such a feeling of hope and optimism

projects, small and large vying for space in my brain 

and all seems possible

The garden

The weather is perfect for pruning

warm, dry (ish) 

I have spent most of the day and a good day last weekend back out in the garden

That first work day of the year is a momentous one for any gardener

As you see the first shoots peeking up 

the ground is warming

the garden is waking up and so to do my gardeners fingers

Have you been watching Monty Don's French gardens on BBC

Last night he was talking about secateurs and how they changed the way we garden

Invented in 1818 by a French Noble man called 

Marquis Betrand de Molleville

who fled to England during the French revolution

Secateurs gave gardeners a way to make a clean cut with less force and 

get into places that were previously unreachable

 They literally shaped they way people gardened 

and still do today 

 

While everything is looking a little bleak in the garden right now 

there is something so promising about those bright green spikes poking through the debris

and it reminds me of what I can look forward too

 foxgloves in the garden last summer

last June in the garden

Clematis  and honeysuckle

The resolve and promises that this year it will be different

I will weed once a week

I will remember to stagger my seed planting

I will clump plants together to create impact

I will clear another patch of border from the grass

I will finally get around to reclaiming the vegetable patch ...........

well, I may achieve one of these

but the great thing about gardens is 

whatever I do, whether I procrastinate or not the garden will do it's thing 

the plants are not waiting for me to make a decision 

they are getting on with the business of growing 

I look forward to june and july when I can sit and look again at a green patch bursting with life 

but for now I am content with the promise 

 

Country Garden update

You may remember in April I posted this photo of my garden 

 Since then I have done a lot of work 

Update Here

Well I thought you might like to see it

I am not completely happy with everything
way too much green
The apple mint has run riot
I have pulled a lot of it out this morning
but like all gardens this is a work in progress
and well, it's certainly an improvement

Flowers

Flowers, flowers, flowers

How I love them

I missed my garden so much whilst in NYC

The first Roses are blooming

and I am waiting in anticipation for the Climber at the back
of the border that is a wall of tiny pale pink double roses

with the most beautiful delicate scent

For now I must content myself with

Deep red Astrantia, Pink and Purple Aquilega, Geranium, Chive and the beautiful "Veilchenblau" rose, the first to bloom this year

and the garden is bursting with greens, so lush after the recent heat and wet,

all of the above flowers have beautiful greens that can be used
and there is also 

Mint, honeysuckle, Lady's mantle, Narcissus, Fennel

I like a lot of greens in my bouquets

I think that is a mistake many make

not enough greens

It doesn't have to be in a fancy vase either

a jam jar tied with a piece of twine

you can also see above some frost damage on a rose leaf

I don't mind that

I like my flowers naturalistic, 

I like to mix textures

but keep my palette tight 

The bouquet can be simple, just a few buds with greens

Often if I am having people over 

I will do many small poseys

group them together for the table

and then afterwards, sprinkle them around the house 

This also has the affect of covering the containers and gives a very abundant feel to the table
and gives you flowers for many rooms
every room should have flowers or failing that, a living plant

We are well on our way to High summer and I cannot wait, blossoms, blooms and bouquets
all summer long....

Do you put flowers in your rooms?

Garden progress

For those of you not following me on Instagram 

here is my garden progress

To see before picture go HERE

This is what I have done so far

*Laid Pavers, this not only gives easier access to back of border and stops the kids walking on plants, but it also divided the border into 3 sections which was a much more manageable project 

*dug up weeds, pulling out roots 

*dug up plants and cleaned the roots (removed entangled weed roots)

*Split large plants and moved them

*Moved other plants

*Planted new plants including Lupins, Foxgloves, Daisies, Penstemons, Peonies (although these take a few years to flower)  and delphiniums

*Applied chicken manure

*Put down bark mulch between plants to try and discourage weeds

Here it is Mulched

 I have seedlings planted of Cosmos and Larkspur 

which i will plant out early June

Looking forward to a blooming marvelous summer

Louesa Roebuck

Following on with another interesting job title

"Renegade Florist"

is the title 

Louesa Roebuck goes by 

Another to add to my wishlist 

I was enchanted by the article and images on remodilista

image via remodilista

 Those waxy leaves and the large Magnolia's

simplicity and abundance

There is an attitude 

an un-precious aura in all of her work 

that feels very fresh and unfussy 

and yet somehow incredibly glamorous 

Flowering Crab Apple

Flowering Crab apple branches from the garden

Country Garden

When I left my garden in 2010 to go to NY, It was looking like this 

When I returned in 2011, It looked like this

Clearly things were in need of attention!

I thought a lot about what to do,

start again?..... but there were so many plants in there

dig everything out ?.... where would I put them , would they survive?

In the end I decided

to divide the bed into sections and tackle a patch at a time

So I have been using the beautiful weather we have been having in Ireland 

as the perfect opportunity to get stuck in 

Digging out the path

-above I have laid the first lot of sand over the soil 

laying the path

and more path

The paving slabs are recycled from my Mum

I also moved a lot of plants 

splitting them in half or transplanting

I acquired some new ones too

nasturtiums, Lobelia, sweet pea

waiting to be planted 

Delphiniums, Lupins, and sage all waiting to be planted

I buy most of my plants from a local gardener
he propogates everything himself....... but never knows what colour the flowers will be
So, it is a bit of a pot luck
The delphiniums he says are white to pale blue
The Lupins you can tell by their stem if they will be pale or dark
(pale having a green stem ,dark having a reddish tinge)
so It is a bit of an experiment
but that's ok
My garden will be the kind of garden that it won't matter 

I also moved things to add a little bit of formality 

like planting Alchemilla Mollis all around the edge of the path

image via Here

I want it to billow over and soften the edges 

and repeat planting the same species 

Things look better en masse 

A garden is always a work in progress
Here is some of my inspiration

 

Image via escapade

Sissinghurst

Image via house to home

Lots of colour , and variety but a little more structure 
thats the plan

This Gentleman's garden is one of my absolute favourites a real inspiration

I will show you some updates over the season

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