Spring Is Sprung...

The spring was out in force again on Sunday. We visited the lovely market town of Petersfield on Sunday morning for Cappuccinos with the Sunday papers and I was taken by the effective simplicity of the flowers on each table. Ours was in a stone jar, probably an old Stilton Cheese pot, and contained a few Ranunculus, Carnations and Pussy Willow sprigs.  I love Ranunculus, OK I love most flowers, they are so opulent, like layers of crumpled tissue paper or a full tulle skirt. Their name is Latin for "little frog" and part of the same family is the humble, but no less stunning, Buttercup.

We then moved over the Hampshire/Sussex boarder to go up onto the Sussex Downs, which were granted National Park status only last year. It is glorious up there, and really does feel like being on top of the world with a great view down into South Harting. I used to go there with my parents when I was a child and we would fly kites. Last weekend, as we ate our picnic, we watched scaled up kites as paragliders sailed the thermals in front of us. And with the  car roof down all the way home we were back in time to see England win against France in the Six Nations rugby! What could be a better way to relax on a sunny, Spring afternoon?!

Spring in Hampshire is definitely moving on a pace now, and my favourite season. Probably because I was an Easter Sunday baby, way back when! As I write a handsome pair Blackbirds are landing on the fence post outside of my studio with beaks full of the soft, springy moss bedding that they have been gleaning from my lawn and then disappearing in to the hedge opposite my window. I love watching this nest building project, in a few weeks I will be treated to a feeding frenzy as the cock bird supplies his mate and chicks with juicy spring grubs and worms and finally their lovely fat babies will fledge and sit out on the fence demanding their parents drop the same treats into their demanding orange orifices.  I certainly have got the best seat in the house!!

Pure Beauty...

I've  had a lovely time in the slightly unseasonal spring sunshine the last couple of weekends. It is so great to be traveling around the Hampshire countryside seeing the Hazel catkins out in the hedgerows - when I was little we used to call them lamb's tails and it is easy to see why. Although I have yet to spot any actual lambs in the fields, but their fleecy dams are looking heavily expectant and probably glad the days are longer and less cold even if the sun probably feels too much with the spring sunshine on their woolly backs.

A few days ago I visited the Chawton House Library Library gardens. This is a wonderful private library specialising in early English women's work and as you may know is based in the home village of Jane Austen. I visited with a group of friends to see the wonderful Snowdrop drifts they have there. I love this simple little flower, which were traditionally know as snow piercers,  you can't help but be inspired by the way they do pierce their way up through the frozen ground at this time of year to display such delicate blooms. Again they remind me of childhood and how excited we were to pick the first wildflower of the year back then. Of course we wouldn't do that today as they are protected, but I have some cultivated varieties growing in my garden and sometime put a few into a small vase on the kitchen table so that they can be inspected and their pure beauty appreciated at close quarters, even though folklore says that it is very unlucky to bring them into the house. Although the Galanthophiles, (the name for Snowdrop collectors), who discovered a green tinted sport which they named Green Tear had a lucky days when a single bulb sold online for £368 and another single bulb of a yellow type called Elizabeth Harrison sold for £725!

Such simple beauty is definitely a thing to behold!!!

A Present For You...

We Wish You A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

When you order a set of our Christmas bouquet cards* before 6th December we will give you a

25% discount** on our Celebration Range

So order this week and stock up for the coming New Year at the same time!!

We Wish All Our Customers A Beautifully Creative Christmas!

www.englishbotanics.co.uk

*80 cards with envelopes £14.80.
**160 cards with envelopes, normal price £29.60, this week only £22.20.
Order code EB/ER001OFFER - Offer ends 6th December 2011.

Très chic...

I mentioned yesterday that my talented friend Marian arrived on my doorstep Saturday evening with two great creations from her floristy course and thought you might like to see the very sculptural one I have on my mantelpiece at the moment.

Wouldn't it be great to have Elton John's flower budget and have a florist turn up every week with fresh creations!

Pronto Posies...

I was out with a group of friends on Saturday evening for some great live music from local band Flight Brigade in a conversion of an old oast house. We are lucky to have some great vernacular architecture locally and this building is a testament to the rich local history of the brewing industry in Hampshire.

My friend Marian, who is taking her City and Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Floristry at the moment, came too and turned up at my door with two fantastic arrangements that she had made this week on her course. The one I have placed at the end of this entry was for my Mum and Dad who had had a long week and were thrilled with the lovely country basket display.

I'm sure the florists among you will know the drill - apparently Marian is given the flowers to use each week and then has to make up a display, dismantle it and make it up again two or three times whilst being timed. Speed floristry!! I think she has a great eye for design, combined with her background in marketing she should have a brilliant, creatively satisfying, business in the near future.

Lest We Forget...

Today is a special Armistice Day as not only do we have two minutes of silence on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month but of course this is also the eleventh year of the twenty first century. In three years we will mark a century since the start of the first world war. Isn't it sad that for all the incredible progress we have seen in those one hundred years we are still fighting across the world and remembering recent loss of life alongside the loss of the first and second world wars.

The Royal British Legion, who have been raising funds to help members of the Armed Forces and their families here in the UK for ninety years, use the Poppy as their symbol, inspired by the poem In Flanders' Fields by First World War Doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. The poppies I have placed at the end of this blog entry are by Georgia O'Keeffe and are for all who are remembering their lost loved ones today.

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;wait and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead, short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields! 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields!

When Shall We Three Meet Again...

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.

My 'O' Level English teacher once said that I must have been a witch in a previous life because when she took us to see Macbeth at Stratford-Upon-Avon I could interpret what was being said. Ummm... a strange way to encourage a teenager to embrace Shakespeare!

Originally today was called All Hallow's Eve, in preparation for Hallowmas which is tomorrow and All Soul's Day on Wednesday and the date (as with many religious dates) probably harks back to Pagan times as a celebration of the end of the autumn harvest and the beginning of the shorter, darker days to come. We put our clocks back an hour in the British Isles yesterday, so it will feel like winter come teatime.

I have to admit I'm not a massive fan of celebrating Halloween. When I was little it was practically unheard of in England. We all looked forward to bonfires and fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night, which is next weekend. My cauldron recently bubbled over when I saw, hope you are sitting down for this, "Happy Halloween" cards, in my local gift shop. What on earth????? All that said this is another nature table type photo, as I couldn't resist this little stripy pumpkin that I found locally - more cute than scary!  I've seen some wonderful photos of carved pumpkins in the past few days, some are real works of art. The wonderful colours on my back lawn and are also displayed in the basket, I'm not looking forward to raking them up though.

So watch who you cross this evening if you are out trick or treating.
Fire burn and caldron bubble...

Flora's Feast...

This illustration comes from a book called Flora's Feast by the English illustrator and designer Walter Crane and is one of a pair of framed originals on my kitchen wall. I've had them for over 20 years but have to say I regret that the book they came from was cut up to make them.  For a while now I have wanted to find and own a copy of the complete original to save it from the same carnage. A few people have thought they are prints of Flower Fairies but I am quick to point out that they are illustrations of the Arts and Crafts movement as this wonderful illustration of a Daisy shows. There is a beautiful naturalist flow in Crane's work, which must have influenced the Art Nouveau movement, although he is quoted as having referred to this movement as  "the decorative disease known as L'Art Nouveau" - umm, I beg to differ Walter!

He served an apprenticeship as a wood engraver, or woodpecker as the tradesmen of the time were called, was a student of John Ruskin and worked with William Morris illustrating publications for Morris' Kelmscott Press. Walter illustrated many books including one about the New Forest, Hampshire's National Park and a place I love.

Like many of the artists of his group Crane also worked in other media and produced wonderful designs for stained glass, pottery, textiles and a mosaic frieze in the home of artist Lord Frederick Leighton. The house in Holland Park, London has been restored in the past couple of years and is well worth a visit if you are in Kensington and, like me, are a fan of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. I think  you will be totally enthralled by the beauty of the Arab hall.

The web site www.waltercrane.org.uk is very decorative and gives an good idea of his wonderful designs if  you are interested in seeing more.