A week in......

 ......and the seasons are changing ....for florists anyway!!

We find as soon as Christmas is packed away for another year nobody wants red...... for  a while anyway....it is whites and purples and spring....it as if we are all straining our eyes to see the first snowdrop.....a catkin...or a splash of winter jasmine......we have bulbs in every shape and size at the moment...bringing these lovelies into the house just makes you feel like we are only a whisper away from longer days and bright fresh breezes ..........


In the garden we are making plans.....our nights lately have been filled with a few anxious thoughts as the gales and rain has lashed our poly tunnel and newly planted shrubs...we have had our fingers and toes crossed that all will be OK ....we are busy planting seeds....and have just got the keys to our potting shed next to the garden.....lots to do here!!

This will be our new workshop and from now on our courses will run from here, giving us all a bit more space and allowing  us to de-clutter the shop......we can't wait!!

Flower love

We got the most amazing cloony rannunculus on Saturday....just about everyone who came in the shop loved them....we have found the run of the mill rannunculus to be a bit hit and miss on quality this year, but these big beauties have been amazing with some the dutchman took home lasting over three weeks...we love them when they are big and blousey....like a ballerinas frilly tutu!!

This weeks wreath on the door.....we usually make these up each week from flowers that have just passed their best and we would not sell but are too lovely to put in the compost.....we didn't have many left overs last week so this  is just bits and bobs off the flower table that we thought would look lovely together with some  lilac which was being a bit temperamental....surprisingly it perked up no end when cut short and popped in this...

A Gold Star for anyone who can list all the stuff in this wreath!!

On the garden front, at last that biting artic wind has dropped and there is sunshine..yah!! We have just sown about 1000 seeds and put in 40 peony tubers( that's not them all ahh!!)......now heading for the showers...x

News from the walled garden

it may be still cold but today the sun was shining...yah!!

so it was all go in the garden today..

 the ground cover is going down

while waiting for the BIG poly tunnel to arrive we put up an allotment sized one to get some seeds going ...
while we sat having our picnic lunch...tea from the flask....soaking the sun up when the wind dropped you could even think it was spring...we talked of the things we wanted to grow...an ever increasing list....maybe finding someone with bee hives....putting up some bird feeders.....
we watched three red kites circling high above us....we listened to the baby chatter and the black dog race around barking at nothing..and wondered how everything will look in a few months time....it was once a dream but everyday now it is such a reality....

...we are trying to recycle as much as we can and have hundreds of paper pots at the ready..sweet peas are destined for these ones......

..gorgeous Hellebore Niger ...already thinking ahead these are for cutting next year ....these are the same  variety as we were selling in the shop at the weekend ( sorry now sold out!).
While buying gardening gloves at the garden center yesterday I happened to look at the prices ....we are seriously cheaper on many plants.....we might do a price comparison like the supermarkets..watch this space.

Next week is Tutti Day in Hungerford....we need to redo the shop window in the town colours.... flowers are one of the vital parts of the celebrations so we have lots of work to do....xx

Build up...

..we always try to make a really attractive display of the flowers....it takes a bit of moving about and rearranging.......we are florists ..take it for granted we  over order our flowers!!

our much loved vintage workbench..groaning under the weight of it all......

This week we have metre high callas......cloony rannunculus...as big as a rose....muscari...lillac...clematis....stocks....dill....spray garden roses....fritillaries....all the usual suspects and a new gerbera which is in disguise as a dahlia.

Hope you all miss the bad weather and have a great weekend..x

yellow

...there is always something new...to us anyway...

today yellow hellebore

delicate

pretty

what do you think?

 ..also an old favourite...primula gold lace

big chunky plants with the feel of an auricular

 ...also en masse..the best way with tulips..

it has been so cold today.....tonight there are anemones in the kitchen in an attempt to make them show their petals for tomorrow...

twirling on the table

...........sometimes spring bouquets are too big for the biggest hands.....

......this one had to be supported on the workbench in its final moments......
..with the broom, blossom,freesia and hyacinths...this smelt divine...

faded beauty

One of our new favourite flowers at the moment......
Musette
a pinky peachy old fashioned rose curled petals 1950s chic in a bloom
these have been a week in a hot hairdressers and still looking pretty!!!

The snow is still here but everyone is buying flowers to cheer themselves and their homes up....
Today we have white lilac, viburnum, tulips, hyacinths,anenomes and of course musette roses...
have a lovely day..

flowers,camera, action..

Just a few pictures of flowers we used yesterday.
We have a new camera and its taking a bit of mastering.....
and since the laptop fell on the floor in the post Christmas scramble its new technology
all round...
The shop has lots of gorgeous things at the moment all to brighten these cold January days....
beautiful scented narcissus from The Scilly Isles....tulips in all shades....elegant hellebore in the darkest burgundy and of course bulbs in all shapes to pot up or let us do the work for you..we have lots of vintage containers all ready to go.
If i work out how to rotate a picture on this computer I'll post some more photos tomorrow!!

where did that week go!!!

Gosh....as usual Easter has crept up on us and we are flying by the seat of our pants....again!!!!

We have had some of the most staggeringly beautiful flowers in over the last  week.......almost all we ( read Kay ) forgot to photograph!!

 Dusky pink helebores that we managed to keep from going floppy ( without the gin...thats another story).
incredible flag iris..we all took some home such is their fleeting beauty...but a few customers were allowed to buy some.....:)

 ..the most incredible deep burgundy scabious with fly petals of purple........tiny, tiny, mauve dianthus...fit for a  dolls house dinner party table........cornish daffodils in beautiful mixed colours...pretty,petty,pretty....

.......but my favourite.....pots of scented violets.......how can such a tiny flower smell so divine?......
The last two pics are of our current door wreath...suitably springy of course.
We will have lots of loveliness for Easter, flowers and plants so do call in... we also went shopping at the weekend and have some  new vintage garden containers and statues.... we may have chocolate eggs as well....

up close....

spring personified
parrot tulips as if touched by an artists brush
million petaled ranunculus
heady lilac....a maidens blush
bowed heads of fritillaria
and the slowly opening clematis
transient beauty indeed..

we hope you all have a lovely weekend...

New love

I admit....

I found a new love....

She probably won't last as long as my previous love, but gosh... ain't she pretty???

She is just gorgeous..... on her own or surrounded by others, she stands out...

I do apologise my dear Clematis, but I'm afraid you have to take the backseat now...

Let me introduce to you:

Miss Fritallaria!!!

Menagerie

We've gone a bit animal crazy this week....

The question asked most so far is:

How much is that doggy in the window?

To which we reply:

The lovely big one? 

Or cute little one?

Would you rather have the royal birds?

A horse perhaps? 

 We do offer some different breeds.



Do we sell dolphins? Don't be silly..

Of course we do!

But don't fret!

We still sell lovely plants and flowers!

There is only a small chance you could hear a horse whinny inbetween the tulips.....

spring fever

its bulbs at very turn in the shop at the moment.

blue ones....hyacinth, muscari, iris,

white ones...snowdrops, white magic muscari, hyacinths in threes and ones... hellebores....

pinky purple ones.... hellebores...oh and hyacinths...ok we are a little hyacinth crazy here!!

as well as all the yellow ones ..tete a tete... narcissus....ranuculus ( sorry sold out)...

and lilies..white this week ( potted at an unbelievable price)

We have them potted into lovely containers ....some vintage.....some quirky....of course this is Martin and  the Magpie....

or ready for you to plant up yourself......

Spring (Season)

The definition of 'Spring (season)' (according to Wikipedia) :

Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many climatic areas: spring, summer, autumn (or fall) and winter. These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting three months. The three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn.

(....)

In spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt toward the Sun and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name. Snow, if a normal part of winter, begins to melt, and streams swell with runoff. Frosts, if a normal part of winter, become less severe. In climates that have no snow and rare frosts, the air and ground temperature increases more rapidly. Many flowering plants bloom this time of year, in a long succession sometimes beginning even if snow is still on the ground, continuing into early summer.

Meaning:



Ice cream colours....



Lovelyness in a mug (or two!)

Gorgeous parrot tulips

Snowdrops in teapots

Hurrah for spring!!!!!!