Wildlife – Cambridge Flower Journal

Signs of life

Next month I’m facilitating a mindfulness session which will focus on fascination with Winter. Here’s how the garden appeared today – viburnum budding; sarcococca confusa berries; weather-worn geranium leaves; rose hips; spring bulbs emerging; and other interesting forms: 🌱 K

Frosty fascination

I’ve never seen our garden so thick with frost. The cobwebs and leaf patterns are incredibly beautiful: 🕸 K

Quiet autumn magic

From this morning – faded chive seed heads, verbena, strange teasel greenery, and other tangled, rain-washed things… ✨ K P.S. Over the past few weeks I’ve been running short mindfulness sessions in my workplace, and included ‘mindful looking’, in which we each chose a natural object and looked carefully at it, then drew and/or wroteContinue reading “Quiet autumn magic”

September overflow

I’ve very much left our garden to do its own thing this past few weeks, following the intense heat. It looks to have appreciated a little rain and a few cooler days, and is now a tangle of purple flowers, dandelions and towering brown teasels ready for autumn. ☀K

Late summer roses, asters and a mystery flower

The past couple of months have been very busy and warm. The below photographs capture a third flush of roses, pretty asters, a giant himalayan honeysuckle, dried-out teasels, and my dad’s favourites (yellow hellenium). Cosmos, verbena and a self-sown hairy willowherb have been allowed to go as wild as they like as September approaches. I’mContinue reading “Late summer roses, asters and a mystery flower”

Sunny honeys

I was planning on seeing my family today, and made the below bunch for them. …Covid got in the way of that meet-up, so the flowers will come into our kitchen instead. Meanwhile, teasels are beginning to bloom: And clouds of ammi majus: Here’s to more sunny days ahead. 🌞 K

Soft focus

I’m enjoying looking at our garden in soft focus this week – spending a little time gazing into the distance and noticing the patterns, movement and light rather than sharply looking at (or criticising) one area. It’s relaxing for the mind and helps you soak in the atmosphere instead of listing all the things thatContinue reading “Soft focus”

‘If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…

…I could walk through my garden forever.’ I’ve been enjoying watching the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this week. Having caught a glimpse of the gardens on-screen, my favourites seem to be Andy Sturgeon’s Mind garden, Pollyanna Wilkinson’s Mothers for Mothers garden, and the Morris & Co garden designed by Ruth Willmott. The planting in allContinue reading “‘If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…”

Very superstitious

Today I was invited to become a wellbeing advocate at work, which took me by surprise and I was delighted. This will involve completing mental health first aid training and learning about wellbeing practices. I am also planning a ‘wellbeing wander’ for a festival that’s coming up in our organisation, which is inspired by oneContinue reading “Very superstitious”

Things I’ve learned while creating our first garden

This weekend has been a time of reflection, so today I’m sharing 21 months-worth of things I’ve noticed, learned and loved since beginning this garden. (Maybe) don’t buy one of everything I was incredibly excited to get started, and as a beginner fell into the trap of buying a single pot of each plant IContinue reading “Things I’ve learned while creating our first garden”