Hello my fellow garden lovers, how are you? This is a very photo heavy post today for all you rose addicts. As you know, it’s my desert island choice, yes, my desert island will have the perfect patch of earth and water for my roses. But if I had to choose just one plant to grow for the rest of my life it will be roses with lavender coming a close second. Anyway, thankfully I’m not on an a desert island having to choose one plant. I wonder though, what would you choose?
Last week I took a stroll around Wrest Park in Silsoe, I only live a couple of villages away and I’m a member of English Heritage so this is a weekly visit where I get to pretend I’m in a Jane Austen novel, playing Elizabeth Bennet. Mr Darcy has yet to materialise from the lake- I live in hope.
This particular morning we had the tiniest bit of rain and the sky was moody. Great for photography! A note to all you budding new photographers out there- you want a cloudy day for good photos, not a sunny bright one, even more so when photographing white flowers. Harsh sun creates high contrast, blown out colours and it’s just not nice. Anyway, presented with the perfect photographic weather, I grabbed the big camera for an outing, on this occasion it was the Nikon Z6ii with a 50mm prime lens (always my go-to lens on any camera). On this piece of kit I’m able to fine tune the settings just like I’m creating a painting, it’s incredible and means I don’t have much, if anything to do in Lightroom.
I take moody photos, I paint dark atmospheric paintings, I live in a sepia haze of nostalgia, it’s my thing. Yet I create light feminine pottery covered in roses 🤷🏻♀️ anyway…
As I walk slowly, sniffing each bloom in turn, I notice how the flowers are getting smaller as the plant is slowing down. Some will continue to bloom for a couple more months. I had an iceberg rose at my last house which was known to flower on Christmas Day.
There have been signs of autumn for a couple of weeks which is crazy when you consider where we are in the month. For me it can’t come soon enough! I feel like I’m holding my breath all summer long whilst the children are off school. Mine are grownups now (I use that term loosely). When I’m in my shop I hear tired parents trying to bribe their badly behaved kids with croissants and babyccinos and I wonder what the world is coming to. Children do not want to be dragged around a town, they have no interest in shops- unless it sells Lego. I digress, where was I, oh yes, noticing autumn.
I’m really looking forward to the mellow days of September, yes I’m aware I’m wishing august away but it’s an unnecessary month in my opinion. In September there is a peace that descends like no other month. The light gently shimmers onto grasses instead of burning an intense glare. The air on my country and forest walks smells rich and beautiful and I enjoy the feeling of being able to fully breathe in and out again. There are less people about behaving like angry wasps, they’ve all climbed back into their identical electric tanks and disappeared, thank goodness. You may think I’d welcome the electric car but in truth it poses a whole host of other issues long term. Again, I digress, I’ll try and stay on topic! And finally, everything feels like it’s all going to be alright again, if only for a brief time, I will always take that time no matter how short and revel in it.
I’m looking forward to pulling out my cardigan and drinking tea, it’s been too hot to drink tea. I’m looking forward to gathering fruit from the hedgerows and making crumbles. I’m looking forward to making seasonal arrangements with seed heads and armfuls of dahlias. You may wonder if I’m actually enjoying anything right now? Well the long evenings are a treat, sitting in the garden until it gets dark, watching the hummingbird moth feed from the verbena and lavender. I took some pelargonium cuttings this week and this is a job that always brings me much joy and makes me feel like a real gardener. I’m enjoying seeing the dahlias blooming and of course the roses, I am in my element photographing roses!
I’ve found a lovely printers who are going to print my floral photography work. I’ve run the first trial and the results have been beautiful. I’ll be releasing limited edition signed prints soon so watch this space.
I’m also working on producing a seasonal magazine which I’m very excited about. Earlier this week I mentioned I was starting a small intimate community called A Year Of Noticing. The magazine is digital and will be issued quarterly to everyone that joins. It will be full of my seasonal images with words to inspire and connect us with the seasons and each other. Each edition will also include my seasonal photography tips and nice things to do, there will also be guest appearances from friends that embrace a slow seasonal way of living. I’m going to talk even more about this lovely community in my next post as I feel I’ve rambled on long enough.
I hope you get to enjoy your gardens this weekend. Don’t forget I always love to see what you’re growing so feel free to share your pics with me, and if you too feel like you need your own little rant, feel free to offload here.
Also you can follow along with my instagram stories here.
Write soon,
Emma.
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