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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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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…
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Successful Sweetpeas
This is my first year of having a successful sweet pea crop and I can confirm they are growing, fast! Having been away for a couple of weeks I was amazed at just how much they had grown. It was like a bush of sweet peas, and although I had plenty of flowers, they did need some tidying up. Did you know they grow 5-6 inches a week? Just amazing. …
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This week in my garden – Adding to my Borders
Seven years ago, when we moved in, our garden looked very different. It was surrounded by huge and out of control conifers and it took us two years just to clear. We literally had to ’empty’ the garden, level it and then add the borders back in. There have been a few plants that remained, but the majority are pretty much only four to five years old. I would say that the structural plants are now finally…
