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A magical happy day at Perchill Farm with Sarah Raven
Earlier this year I was contacted by the Sarah Raven team: would I like to work with them? I pulled on my wellies, added a smudge of soil to my cheek and asked what time I should arrive. They sweetly explained that they were more hoping for my expertise with regards to styling and writing rather than actual flower propagation, I slowly removed my over the elbow leather gardening gloves…
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If you liked this….Rebecca Fletcher’s picks for further Rural Landscape novels
Landscapes can be so much more than backdrops to novels – they can become protagonist or plot driver. As Costa Award Novel Winner Claire Fuller, our special guest for this month’s Are You Sitting Comfortably? shared, the story of Jeanie and Julius in Unsettled Ground emerged from a photograph of an abandoned caravan her son had found in the woods. Who had lived there? What was it like to be on the…
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A quick 5 minutes on what you should be doing with your dahlias
By Karen Atwood @flowersandlifestylebymargot The darling dahlia, such a wonderful summer flower for borders and cut flower gardens. They provide so much colour and interest and with so many different varieties, I challenge anyone not to find one that they love. My favourite is cafe au lait but as my collection continues to grow, there are quite a few coming a close second. To lift or not to lift –…
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Creating an Autumn feel in your home
As we head into Autumn, I definitely notice a difference in the colours of flowers I use in my arrangements. I start to step away from the delicate, pastel colours of Summer and move towards the rich, vibrant colours of Autumn. If I had to choose my favourite Autumn flowers, it would be the hydrangea, dahlia, berries and grasses – don’t make me choose though! I love using them to create…
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Just a little bit of multi tasking and upcycling
Around this year I start to dry lots of hydrangeas, as I love using them throughout the Autumn and Winter months for styling and adding to floral arrangements. I recently wrote a blog on what I’ve learnt along the way when it comes to drying hydrangeas https://www.myenglishcountrycottage.co.uk/heavenly-hydrangea/and after a weekend in the garden, I discovered another way of ‘drying hydrangeas’ which is a little more pleasing to the eye. The…
