Cambridge Flower Journal

Autumn transformations

Splashes of colour and wonder from this week.

🌞 K

I’ve spent less time in the garden recently – slightly overwhelmed by working in the city rather than from home for part of my week – so it was lovely to roam around and notice autumnal details flourishing in the cloudy light today.

Not sure what kind of beetle this is ^ but it’s amazing.

Until next time,

🍁 K

Changing seasons

There are signs of significant change, as summer relaxes into autumn here in the UK.

The roses have amazed us with a second flush that is bolder than the first.

Grown from seed: **scabiosa atropurpurea** ‘Black Cat’.

Likewise this **callistephus chinensis** ‘Tower Chamois’.

**Rosa** ‘Boscobel’ has grown substantially this summer.

**Rosa** ‘Munstead Wood’ remains my favourite of the year, with its velvety texture and scent.

A lovely colour combination…leaves of **pulmonaria** surrounded by **achillea**.

I’ll close with words from Rhys Lewis’ recent song, Seasons, which is a welcome reminder of impermanence in life – just as happiness is something we can cultivate and remain open to shifting in source, we must remember that difficulty and suffering are not permanent, and every moment is new.

We all go through seasons
We’re changing all the time
It can’t always be summer
Even in July
So however cold you’re feeling
How ever grey your mind
Spring will be here soon
It’s okay to be blue
We all go through seasons

You don’t judge a lake for freezing over
You don’t curse the leaves for turning brown
And you don’t blame the days for getting shorter
So why’d you blame yourself for getting down?

Wishing everyone a restful Sunday.

Until next time,

🌹 K

Gardenversary

We’ve been living here a year now.

Here’s what the garden looked like this time last year. We soon got some turf put down so we wouldn’t be living in a mud bath all winter, and carved out some beds.

The same view but slightly side-on, this week.
(Treating plants to a slow-release seaweed feed in spring supports their initial growth).

My favourite in the garden right now: **Echinacea purpurea** ‘Magnus’.

**Thalictrum** ‘Splendide White’ took a while to arrive.

**Verbena bonariensis** is a magnet for bees.

**Allium** ‘Green Drops’ leans into the ever-expanding fennel.

I found this Scabiosa (I believe columbaria subsp. ochroleuca) while on holiday and it’s quickly settled in.

I scattered quite a few Papaver somniferum laciniatum, ‘Black Swan’ seeds months ago.
They’ve resulted in tiny poppies which last around a day or two at most. Gorgeous.

**Solidago** is a new love of mine…it looks celebratory, like a big golden firework.
This variety is called ‘Goldkind’.

I’m looking forward to another gardening year, and to learning much more about plants and how to care for them. Here’s hoping some birds visit this autumn/winter, too (so far the singular sighting I’ve made is of a partridge running along the grass!)

Which plants are you especially loving in your garden lately? I’d love to hear.

Wishing you a happy weekend.

Until next time,

🌞 K

Mum’s birthday flowers

It’s my mum’s birthday today and, before she and my dad pop over to celebrate, I took a few minutes to capture what’s growing in our garden on this special day.

That I notice and appreciate flowers and plants so much certainly stems from my childhood: my mum would always be growing something pretty in the garden, which was ever-changing as we rented and moved quite a bit. Once I’d grown old enough not to be playing with worms and woodlice, she instilled in me a penchant for looking more closely at plants, and this is something I’m developing further today, within a mindfulness practice.

**Geranium** ‘Rozanne’ and **Salvia** ‘Nachtvlinder’ were my first mindful practice subjects…

Mindful moments

Something I tried recently (thanks to the RHS’ Gardening for Mindfulness book by Holly Farrell): select a flower or the leaf of a plant and spend five minutes looking very closely at it, taking in its details: colours, patterns, shapes, textures. Notice if it’s obvious whether it’s been pollinated; if it’s newly-bloomed or on its way out; how the light catches it and if there is iridescence to it; if it’s moving in the breeze or still; if any bees or other insects are near or on it…there are many observations you might make in this short time, and once you have taken a few moments to look carefully, you’ll know the flower or leaf pretty well.

Taking it slowly

My main tip with the above practice is to take your time, not striving to mentally list all you can see immediately, but rather beginning with the perspective that you’re watching the flower or leaf, seeing it with fresh eyes in each moment. You’ve probably never looked at this particular flower or leaf up-close before, or indeed with this much care; and if you were to look at it tomorrow, it’d be different. (Indeed, in each moment the flower or leaf and the conditions around it are changing). In that sense, each time we practice this it’s a brand new, one-off experience, reminding us that each moment of our lives is, too.

**Verbena** officinalis var. grandiflora ‘Bampton’ with clouds of **Achillea** ‘Terracotta’ in the background.

I could hardly believe the scale of the leaves on this **Nicotiana** alata ‘Lime Green’ as it began to grow last month.

**Salvia** microphylla ‘Wine and Roses’ sits in the same pot as the above; and **Verbena** bonariensis leans in and says hello here, as well.

The combination of purple and lime green in this **Agastache** ‘Golden Jubilee’ is uplifting, especially on a grey day.

**Fennel** just loves the sunshine this month.

I’m only halfway through the book I mentioned above, and suspect there will be other ideas well worth sharing from it in the weeks ahead.

I hope someone reading this might try out the practice and let me know if it was interesting, helpful or fun! (Personally I found my first try moving and the second more challenging due to my state of mind, and I guess in that sense it’s a good gauge day-to-day).

Wishing everyone a restful weekend, once it arrives.

Until next time,

🌞 Katherine

Geranium heaven at Clover Cottage

I visited Clover Cottage in West Wickham last weekend within the National Garden Scheme’s summer offering. Shirley Shadford has built the most gorgeous front and back gardens from scratch, having lived in the cottage with her husband for the best part of two decades.

Shirley kindly showed my mum and I around the gardens and we found her enthusiasm infectious as she talked through the clouds of geranium, thalictrum, astrantia and roses which line the billowing pathway and flowerbeds there.

Her careful and generous employment of plant supports to keep these fantastic plants looking their best made me realise I need to invest in some more, too!

Rather than narrate too much, I’m keen to simply share some of the photographs I took, which hopefully go some way in illustrating the beauty of the planting.

What a front garden…I loved the combination of soft, floaty purples, pinks and whites along with the bold, towering blue delphinium.

The cottage is surrounded by peachy roses and vibrant pink geranium at the front.

Stunning planting: geranium, lupin and larkspur are nestled around a crowd of fading allium heads.

The front garden is the gift that keeps on giving!

An especial favourite of mine: thalictrum ‘Elin’ stands out exquisitely beside the thatched roof of the cottage.

The rambling rose ‘Purple Skyliner’ (Franwekpurp) gently frames this pretty, mossy sculpture.

I almost missed these on my way out: succulents living on roof tiles along the side of the cottage pathway.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into Clover Cottage, and highly recommend you visit for the real experience if you can. Photos simply don’t do it justice!

Thankfully you can experience this beautiful cottage garden yourself next year: it’s open 20, 27 February and 6 March for the Snowdrop Festival, and 12, 19 June in summertime.

Until next week,

🌞 Katherine

New curiosities

My day job is a little intense at the moment, and I’ve consequently spent less time in the garden with shorter lunch breaks, so this weekend I was glad to take a moment to notice what’s changed.

The gaps in our beds are lessening week by week, as plants fill out and more flowers than I anticipated greet the season. I’m also noticing the blooms that are bowing out for summertime…

The poppies have said farewell for this year. I love their seed-heads.

This **scabious** is huge – a lone flower on the plant currently.

A pair of giant, mystery **alliums** have appeared. (I think these may be the ‘Green Drops’ variety).

**Allium** ‘Hair’ continuing to delight.

This is a **lupin** ‘Masterpiece’ flower-head…amazing depth of colour.

My favourite thing in the garden this week: **thalictrum** **flavum** (yellow meadow rue) is so frothy and tall.

A pretty, short **allium** ‘multibulbosum Nigrum’.

And finally, here come the **geraniums** to properly begin their summer celebration.
(L: geranium ‘Elke’ next to some **erigeron**, R: geranium ‘Rozanne’ along with a salvia – I *think* ‘Sensation Rose’).

Which flowers are you especially loving in your garden, or out and about, this month?

Until next time,

🌸 Katherine

Rainy day magic

Having bent towards the beating sun in recent weeks, I can almost hear the plants breathing a sigh of relief as they soak up significant rainfall today. Several of our roses have flopped to the ground, their petals scattered all over the surrounding earth, but it’s nothing a little sunlight or staking won’t remedy.

I grew this **Nasturtium** (*Tropaeolum majus*) ‘Bloody Mary’ from seed, and it seems to be quite happy in its little pot.

Elsewhere in the garden, **Nasturtium** (*Tropaeolum majus*) ‘Alaska’ and **Nasturtium** (*Tropaeolum majus*) ‘Bloody Mary’ live next to one another.

I love these **Allium** ‘Hair’…each one has a distinct character of its own.

**Rosa** ‘Hot Chocolate’ offering a reverent bow to the rain.

**Salvia nemorosa** ‘Caradonna’ leaning on its neighbour, **Hosta** ‘Guacamole’. What a colour combination.

I planted this **Ranunculus** ‘Striato Bianco’ from a bulb and it looks striking next to the old rose, **Rosa** ‘Mundi’.

Over in another pink patch…a soggy bee takes shelter from the rain on a **Cosmos** bipinnatus ‘Fizzy Rose Picotee’.
Writing this an hour later, they are still there.

When I was little I hated the strong scent of geranium leaves, but now I love it. (And their gorgeous shape, colours and markings).

Wishing you a relaxing weekend ahead.

Until next time,

☔ Katherine

Rose abundance in June

I’ve not been in the garden much this past couple of weeks due to a maintenance issue with a neighbouring property, but now that’s fixed I’m making up for it big time. The sheer number of weeds, including rapeseed from a field behind us, has made recovering the garden quite a challenge this week – but it’s one I’m so pleased to take on. (To give you a sense of just how willing I am: a couple of times I’ve almost fallen over in my enthusiasm to pull the weeds up).

Isn’t June a beautiful month? Everything is burgeoning, vibrant and soaking up the warmth of the sun. Our roses have made an appearance now, and the strong myrrh scent of one in particular – ‘Scepter’d Isle’ – is just gorgeous.

**Rosa** ‘Scepter’d Isle’ – I highly recommend this beautiful rose for your garden.

You’ve caught me…I’m a little obsessed by roses.
Here, clockwise from the top left are **Rosa** ‘Munstead Wood’ (bought on Nick Bailey’s recommendation);
‘The Poet’s Wife’, ‘Boscobel’ and ‘Eustacia Vye’.

My pink passion continues with these **Papaver** ‘Princess Victoria Louise‘ .
They are huge, and the stark contrast of such a dark centre and candyfloss pink petals is sublime.

I like this combination of yellow, pinks and purples. **Achillea** ‘Moonshine’ puts on quite a show for months.
(Do you know what the plant on the bottom far right is…?)

Quite a dreamy **Delphinium…**its colours remind me of a Disney princess’ dress.

Carol the pheasant says hello…I named her after Carol Klein !

I hope your weekend is restful and that you’re enjoying June as much as I am.

Until next time,

🌞 Katherine

Late May garden round-up

Our first May with a garden is drawing to a close, so it’s a good time to reflect on what’s been blooming, and where. Noticing gaps in the flowerbeds and patterns of colour will be helpful for next springtime. For example, aside from wallflowers and bulbs, the garden has predominantly been dotted with pink, red and white flowers so far this year; and one bed has had practically no flowers at all, so I’ll know to put some geums and other smaller plants there for next year.