Dear March, how are you?

I haven’t been shy this winter in sharing just how hard I’ve found the last few months. And so it’s probably no surprise to any of you that I’m sitting down to write this feeling so incredibly happy that spring is here (I know for some spring doesn’t start until the equinox but, for me, this year its here now. I need it to be here now!).

I won’t labour the point of just how hard winter has been, but I will share that I am now convinced that much of my negativity stems from how little time I have been able to spend in the garden. With the incessant rain and record low levels of sun, I have found myself stuck in a horrible cycle of doom and gloom, feeling very demotivated. I have been finding it very hard to find the joy in anything, exhausted by life and it’s really only been in the last few weeks of slowly spending more time outside that I have felt this malaise lifting.

After so many days of rain, mist and clouds, it was a relief when we returned home from our half term trip to Morocco a few weeks ago to find there were noticeable differences to the landscape in Devon.

Firstly the flowers, in that short week we were away and despite it raining for most of it, the number of flowers pushing their heads out of the soil was incredible. Aconites, narcissi, hyacinths, all flashing their beauty with delight to anyone passing by.

Secondly the light levels. I’m waking to go to the gym as usual and instead of inky black skies, there is a lightness, enough for me to make out the silhouettes of the trees. And by the time I leave to head home, the sun is up and welcoming in the new day.

And thirdly the insects. Seeing a bumble bee for the first time in months was the most joyful feeling. And noticing how the insects themselves seem to slowly be pulling themselves out of a slumber, really got me thinking about just much pressure I have been putting on myself the last few months. At a time when the natural world is telling us to rest, I seem unable to do just that, punishing myself for a lack of productivity and for not having enough energy. Perhaps I should have listened to my body that little bit more and leant into the need to rest and recover, because now spring is here, it’ll be very hard to do just that.

After months of searching high and low for any change and growth in the outside world, suddenly things are speeding up. A few days away in London this last week was enough for me to return home to spring wild flowers exploding along the road verges, that weren’t there just a few days before.

And the icing on cake has to be the return of the sun. In the last few weeks we’ve had a couple of days of what some might call “false springs” where the sun has felt so warm against my skin. Working in the garden has been a joy and I’ve found myself stripping off layers as the heat has built, from both the sun and the physical exertion. I’ve enjoyed my first lunch on the south facing decking, out the front of the house and as I write this now, I’m sitting in my studio with the light streaming in, warming up myself and the space.

I’ve returned to regular sea swimming too after a long break in January and February and that has been the perfect tonic to reset my mind and body. I have missed the head space both the swim and the cycle to and from the beach, bring me. Thoughts and ideas have a way of flowing freely into my mind at these times and it’s been lovely to have them back again. The perfect antidote to my negative spiralling.

The garden is springing to life now. Alongside the appearance of spring flowers, there is so much growth elsewhere that it’s hard to keep up. Buds bursting, perennials mounding, grass in the lawn greening up.

I’ve been most excited to see the return of the many narcissi that I have planted over the years of being here. I wish I was organised enough to keep a list of all the varieties that I have planted, but I’m not, so instead each year brings with it new surprises and old faces.

The blossom on my kojo no mai shrub is just about to burst forth. This is such a beautiful shrub, relatively small in size, its stems form a sort of zig zag shape as they grow and are filled with the prettiest white and pink blossom flowers. In the Autumn the leaves turn the most incredible shades of reds and ambers, with the statuesque bones of the shrub in the winter giving the garden year round interest.

The camellias are hitting their stride too. Such incredible plants to have in the garden. I know many people dislike them, but for me, in my garden, they provide protection from the road that runs alongside our house, whilst also forming the backdrop to my front garden. And then there are their many, many flowers. Each year I am just blown away by their sheer resilience and determination, the flowers are blousy and showy and so very generous at at time when things feel pretty tough. They are complete show offs!

The garden is still very muddy and water logged. The biggest challenge with this, is actually for my boys, who haven’t been able to play football for months. They have instead turned to golf which is a little less damaging to the ground and grass, but they are missing being able to run off all their energy.

Because the ground is so water logged, I have found it quite hard to go about my work as I live in perpetual fear that I will slip over and/or cause too much damage to the ground by walking up and down. Things are slowly improving but it’s taking quite a while to do so.

One thing I have on my list for my birthday this year is a wheel barrow with two wheels instead of one, these tend to do less damage to the ground and will enable me to get on with the mulching.

And finally, there’s the perennials. New shoots are pushing their up and through the ground at such a pace. The delicate fronds of sanguisorba are beautiful in their own rights. The verdant green leaves of aquilegia shine brightly against the brown soil of the beds. Just this morning I noticed the unfurling of the leaves of the plume poppy, shooting up between the old stems of last years flowers, they’ll be reaching heady heights in no time.

Every morning as I step outside the front door there is more to notice, fresh buds, fresh leaves, fresh flowers. This is what makes this time of year so very exciting in a way that no other season does. Because the backdrop to the change is so muted, every new appearance shines bright like a beacon inviting you to slow down and observe and notice.

There is a sadness in the garden too. For this is the first year that we (so far) have no toad spawn in the pond. It was the full moon this week and usually at this time of year the pond is full of mating toads, this year, none. Just a handful of very lonely male toads calling for a female.

My husband and I have been wondering if it’s something we have done wrong. We have chickens, have they been eating the toads? The reality is, it’s probably nothing we’ve done. We are in the midst of a climate emergency and sadly I fear the real reason is probably that volatile weather patterns including the drought of last years summer.

All we can do is to continue to create a space that invites every creature in and hope that eventually they find us.

I’m feeling a little bit panicky about how much there is to do in the garden now. It feels like many of the jobs I would have liked to have got ahead with in Winter are now rather pressing but I’m trying stay calm about things.

Sow those seeds

The biggest focus for me in March is to regularly and continuously sow seeds. I find that the little and often method works best for me. I then don’t get too overwhelmed with hours and hours of sowing and it also means I can manage the areas where I start seeds off in a balanced way. I have my greenhouse and within the greenhouse I have a heat mat and then I also have the window sills of my studio. If I was to sow all my seeds at the same time I wouldn’t have the space in which to give them the best start - ie on heat.

I am focussing on hardy annuals and perennials this month, waiting until late March and early April for the half hardy annuals.

I wrote a recent article on my favourite plants to grow for drying here as well as shared this video all about how I sow here. And if you’d like to dive deep into growing and drying then my ebook Growing and Drying the Flowers is available to purchase here.

Mulch, mulch, mulch

We sit on very heavy clay soil here so I tend to mulch my beds once a year if I can, to not only help with weed suppression but also to over time improve the soil structure. Where possible I use leaf mulch that I’ve made over the winter and when that runs out, as I have limited capacity here in my garden, I buy in either mushroom compost or green waste. I used to mulch in Autumn but I have found that a spring mulching serves me better.

I have read lots about how mulching in autumn is a waste of nutrients as the winter rain just washes them all away. I also really enjoy how mulching the beds in late winter/early spring helps to give the garden a lift when things are looking pretty dire. With all the beds coated with a blanket of black goodness, somehow things look more organised.

The other benefit I have with mulching my beds in the spring is that the mulch makes it really challenging for my hens to scrabble the beds. I am in a constant battle with them to leave my beds alone and this layer of heavy mulch is a little bit of a deterrent for them.

Pre Sprouting Dahlias

Last year was the year I fell in love with dahlias and grew hundreds and hundreds of flowers that I went on to dry. I don’t dig my dahlias up in the winter for various reasons, one being that I don’t have the storage space required to store all the tubers safely. The other is that the digging up of dahlias usually needs to be done during one of the busiest times for my business so it always falls off the to do list. For that reason I never know how many of them will survive, so I like to invest in a few new plants each year to replace any that haven’t made it.

I plant my dahlias up in crates to save on space and compost. All we’re trying to do by potting them on is to get them to sprout green shoots before planting them out. So they don’t need a huge amount of goodness from the compost to do this, as it won’t be long before we get them in the ground.

This year I worked with Crocus to put together two collections of my favourite dahlias which are available on their website. My favourite has to be the Golden hour collection which features my favourite dahlia Yellow Gill amongst others.

Use code BEX15 for an extra 15% off.

The Growing Space

I’m going to share more about this in a future post, but for now, I am so excited to share that I am just one bed away from finishing my growing space. This project has taken me a really long time and has also been a long time coming.

For now, what I’ll say is that I feel like I have finally grown up. And that the space where I grow my flowers at home is going to be organised and structured this year in a way that it never has before. Put simply I have moved all my beds to raised beds rather than them being a messy mix of in the ground planting areas. Already I can see the huge difference its going to make to my life and its a joy to work in there.

I have one more bed to put in position and then I can begin to plant out my over wintered hardy annuals and direct sow some seeds.

Here’s a sneak peek below:

I tend to spend less time in the studio at this time of the year, with my mind very much focussed on getting all the flowers grown that I need too.

It’s still my favourite place to sit down and write to you, I leave the windows open so that I hear the bird song outside and I’m able to keep an eye on the hens. We bought two new ones home yesterday to join our flock, so I can keep an eye on the old birds from my studio windows and check they aren’t being too brutal to the new ladies. I know they will settle soon but it’s always a little nerve wracking to begin with.

In the coming weeks, I will be spending time with a couple of mentoring clients. I love this type of work, we spend an hour together discussing everything to do with growing and drying flowers, running creative businesses and how to craft beautiful pieces out of dried flowers.

If you’re interested in spending an hour chatting to me, I have details here on my website.

Later in the month I have two installations to prepare for as well as two large spring wreaths to make for my retail clients. After a month of very little time playing with flowers, I am looking forward to getting back to it.

Excitingly I am also off to Stockholm for a few days next week. Ed is out there with work and having always wanted to go it seems the perfect time to visit. I’ll be joining him for a few days in the city and then we will head to the archipelago for a few nature filled days. If you have any recommendations of places to visit then please send them my way, I am particularly interested in flowery things and bakery’s!

I hope you enjoyed this publication, please do share with others if you feel someone else may also enjoy my words and photos.

Until next month, Bex