The Year of Living Gorgeously

May mayhem Part I

By Emmeline Johnston

For me, it is without doubt my busiest time of year... and probably my favourite time of year too... everything in the great outdoors is all fresh and unspoilt and it is the best time of year to be planting and seeing things zoom into life.  It is also the month of my birthday - but I shouldn't let that influence my judgement! 

Well, so much to do at this time - and so much to say too.  Probably most of all at this time of year I have been enjoying the explosion of colour that has hit me.  It is the time of tulips and wallflowers contrasting with the zingy bright green of clean new leaves and of course the blue of a bluebell wood.  No one does colour better than Sarah Raven whose catalogue I look at just to enjoy the juxtaposition of fuchsia with acid green with a brilliant blue with yellow and red...  her website does not unfortunately do this - but worth ordering her catalogue for it alone!   

Meanwhile things that have been dormant unfurl - I swear that walking in the woods I can literally hear the leaves squeezing themselves out of their buds...whilst some plants literally unfurl in another of natures mini-revivals.   Roadsides and woodlands really come alive now like no other time.  Bluebells are though over surprisingly early (well, they arrived early!)  along with wild garlic that if you can find is a good bit of free wild food.  I keep finding more and more references to 'wild food' so thought I would say a few words.  Pictured here, those of you that 'know your onions' will recognise the flower of the wild garlic as belonging to the 'Allium' or onion family.  In cooking, they are not as strong as cultivated garlic and you use the leaves... using  them as you would chives - a good idea being to chop them into an omelette. 

Back home, and I have finally had to take my phalanopsis orchid away from the hall.  For fresh flowers in the house this plant really has been value for money.  I ask you, how else can you spend £4.99 and have flowers from December until early May...got to be beautiful bargain of the year!     

Spring greens and pinks and purples and ....

 

At the start of this month the blog began "you'll see a stirring in the soil and know that spring is just around the corner...."  so it is with great joy that now (albeit a bit into the month), that I am delighted to report that not only is the soil breaking out in bejeweled swaths of crocus and daffodil - but today I saw my first tree breaking into leaf - hurrah!   The first of the cherry trees are now in blossom along with flowering quinces, whilst magnolia buds everywhere are just ready to burst - how wonderful.  Meanwhile, two of my favourite flowers are doing their stuff in the garden right now:  snowdrops and Hellebores, of which there are many wonderful colours as you can see here: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are however two problems with hellebores; 1)  They flower now when realistically you don't venture or linger in the garden that much and 2) Their flowers 'nod' so you need to lift them up to really appreciate them, unless... pick the flowers and then float them in coloured tealights or a bowl and hey presto - decoration and appreciation in one - and they last for ages - weeks infact as a great table centerpiece -especially if you add some tealights. 

Back outside, if you have a garden then now is the time to take stock and look at its overall structure… are there any major gaps where there is a boring fence or an unsightly view?  If there is, now would be a good time to put in something evergreen, maybe even some topiary if appropriate – although please not the piece I recently saw that is shaped as a  motorbike...!  

Other jobs to do are to prune late flowering summer plants and evergreens and give everything a good feed - yes, plants appreciate a bit of food too at this time of year, although unlike us they prefer a good sprinkling of dried blood, fish and bone (available together in powdered form from any garden centre), followed by a thick topping of manure.  Delicious and quite unlike any other recipe here on 'Living Gorgeously! 

Having done all that - you deserve to reward yourself, so do so by buying British. This supplier grows their plants so can supply you with a hand-crafted creation filled with freshly picked blooms and foliage direct from the English countryside.  A cheaper alternative of course would be to go and lightly prune a local cherry tree or camellia that are all flowering now ... although if it does not belong to you I am not condoning plant vandalism!     

Down at my allotment I am now sowing broad beans and peas for an early crop and 'chitting'' my potatoes ready for planting in March.  I have also just bought some wonderful hazel pea sticks and hazel poles with which to support my peas and then make an archway for sweetpeas - watch this space.  So much nicer than bamboo poles and since they are sourced from a locally coppiced woodland I feel I am doing my little bit... I'm sure the peas will taste all that sweeter too!  If you want to source your own bean poles then find out where through those that are trying to preserve this forgotten tradition.    

And finally - take a look at my best  houseplant - a Strelitzia, the Bird of Paradise plant which has now opened 3 flowers of which this is one.  Easiest plant of all to  look after - you can forget about watering it for ages and somehow it forgives you and produces this terrific flower.  Bloom on!

At the start of this month the blog began "you'll see a stirring in the soil and know that spring is just around the corner...."  so it is with great joy that now (albeit a bit into the month), that I am delighted to report that not only is the soil breaking out in bejeweled swaths of crocus and daffodil - but today I saw my first tree breaking into leaf - hurrah!   The first of the cherry trees are now in blossom along with flowering quinces, whilst magnolia buds everywhere are just ready to burst - how wonderful.  Meanwhile, two of my favourite flowers are doing their stuff in the garden right now:  snowdrops and Hellebores, of which there are many wonderful colours as you can see here: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are however two problems with hellebores; 1)  They flower now when realistically you don't venture or linger in the garden that much and 2) Their flowers 'nod' so you need to lift them up to really appreciate them, unless... pick the flowers and then float them in coloured tealights or a bowl and hey presto - decoration and appreciation in one - and they last for ages - weeks infact as a great table centerpiece -especially if you add some tealights. 

Back outside, if you have a garden then now is the time to take stock and look at its overall structure… are there any major gaps where there is a boring fence or an unsightly view?  If there is, now would be a good time to put in something evergreen, maybe even some topiary if appropriate – although please not the piece I recently saw that is shaped as a  motorbike...!  

Other jobs to do are to prune late flowering summer plants and evergreens and give everything a good feed - yes, plants appreciate a bit of food too at this time of year, although unlike us they prefer a good sprinkling of dried blood, fish and bone (available together in powdered form from any garden centre), followed by a thick topping of manure.  Delicious and quite unlike any other recipe here on 'Living Gorgeously! 

Having done all that - you deserve to reward yourself, so do so by buying British. This supplier grows their plants so can supply you with a hand-crafted creation filled with freshly picked blooms and foliage direct from the English countryside.  A cheaper alternative of course would be to go and lightly prune a local cherry tree or camellia that are all flowering now ... although if it does not belong to you I am not condoning plant vandalism!     

Down at my allotment I am now sowing broad beans and peas for an early crop and 'chitting'' my potatoes ready for planting in March.  I have also just bought some wonderful hazel pea sticks and hazel poles with which to support my peas and then make an archway for sweetpeas - watch this space.  So much nicer than bamboo poles and since they are sourced from a locally coppiced woodland I feel I am doing my little bit... I'm sure the peas will taste all that sweeter too!  If you want to source your own bean poles then find out where through those that are trying to preserve this forgotten tradition.    

And finally - take a look at my best  houseplant - a Strelitzia, the Bird of Paradise plant which has now opened 3 flowers of which this is one.  Easiest plant of all to  look after - you can forget about watering it for ages and somehow it forgives you and produces this terrific flower.  Bloom on!