April Update

APRIL

A lesson in delayed gratification.

With the warmth towards the end of the month, April started to feel more like early summer than mid spring. With our ever changing climate, gone are the days of predictability, and rolling with the punches and celebrating what’s here and now is definitely the way I’ll be  proceeding with the season.

Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’, Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Sem’, Spiraea thunbergii, Spiraea japonica '‘Golden Princess’, Potentilla fruticosa ‘Primrose Beauty’ Kolkwitzia amabilis ‘Pink Cloud’, Rosa ‘Canary Bird’, Amelanchier, Narcissus ‘Cherrfulness’, ‘Lieke’, ‘Pueblo’, ‘Beautiful; Eyes’, Helleborus x hybridus ‘Harvington Double Apricot’, Heuchera ‘Caramel’.

There was something unexpectedly emotional about creating this arrangement. Chatting it through with Will and trying to deduce why, I think it boiled down to delayed gratification. A lot of the shrubs I’ve used here I hadn’t cut from before, as it’s taken a good two years for them to settle and start to put on decent growth, but I think it’s deeper than that. This was years of researching varieties, conversations with inspiring growers and blissful trips round nurseries making notes and wish lists so that when the time came and I could plant and invest in my own piece of land, I was ready. So really, this bowl is the sum of years of growth and passion, and what’s even more exciting is that this is only the beginning. From the colour blending foliage of the sorbaria, to the movement and stretch of the kolkwitzia, these shrubs are in for the long haul, something I can’t wait to explore creatively as the years unfold.

from left to right:  Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’, Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Sem’.

Planting continues with speed and enthusiasm, and I’m finally in a place to be able to create the shaded area I’ve been longing for a couple of years. Under the protection of two honeysuckles, which are trained on posts and metal stock fencing running east to west, they create protection from the south facing heat of the day. Groups of campanulas, Aruncus diocius, thalictrums, Filipendula purpurea and rodgersias jostle for space alongside more shade embracing umbles Cenolophium denudatum and Chaerophyllum azericum. Florally, a lot of these plants fall in to the ‘fluffy plumes with stunning, season changing foliage’ category, one I’ve felt needed a solid bolstering and I’m hoping these plants are the answer. Some of these varieties can handle full sun if the soil remains moist, but given that I try to keep irrigation to a minimum, even with a thick mulch, the dry summer of last year meant that lifting these perennials to a semi shaded area felt like the right choice to get the healthiest and most productive plants. Packed in tightly together to suppress weeds, I’m hopeful they’ll bulk out this year and can be lifted in autumn or next spring, meaning more work at slightly busier times of year but I’ll take anything that means less weeding.

I’m really thrilled to be one of five designers included in this years’ British Flowers Week at the Garden Museum in London. This year’s theme is Benton End: A Paradise of Paint and Pollen, coinciding with the reopening of Cedric Morris’ garden at Benton End.

Whilst in still deep in design phase, I’m so excited to share more next month. This feels like a real rite of passage as a designer, with many of my floral heroes having created memorable installations, flexing their creative muscle and inspiring me to pursue this art form as a career.

Daunting but thrilling, like the best things in life.

Open to the public 17-21 June, come and see the creations celebrating British grown flowers. Link to book attached to both images below.

May sees the end of the Red Shoes tour, and a big jump in flower and garden work. It feels time for a pause from the stage, and I’m itching to spend more time working and creating outdoors.

Wishing you all a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Thanks for reading.