Lilac

Today I'm playing "Liberty Camouflage" with lilac. One of my favourite Liberty prints teamed with my favourite shrub.

The print is “ArchiveLilac” by Liberty of London: “Taken from a tiny paper sample in the Liberty London Archive, this Liberty London Fabric takes inspiration from Alice’s journey through the Garden of Live Flowers, where flowers talk and chatter and help her on her way.” It’s interesting that the design survived originally as a paper sample as I can absolutely imagine it as wallpaper. The first time I saw this fabric in this colour, I was reminded of a print my sister had in her kitchen, of Van Gogh’s Almond Blossom, and I still think about the painting every time I wear this top.

I bought the fabric on a fun day out with Rebecca from Poshyarns and we got lost in the rain because we were chatting too much (not the first nor the last time!) and spent hours browsing the amazing selection of Liberty fabrics in Shaukat. I am so lucky to have a friend with a similar love of Liberty fabrics!

I have made many tops with Liberty tana lawn, but I tend to use different prints to those I use in my work. I prefer bolder, often more geometric Liberty prints, whereas the colourful gifts I make for my shop tend to use the smaller, ditsy floral prints. That being said, I still only work with fabrics that sing to me and make me happy.

I love this time of year when the big blousy shrubs bloom – the bouquets of rhododendron flowers, brilliantly-coloured azaleas and, best of all, the heady scented lilac. Today is, I think, “peak lilac”: the flowers are all out, perfectly white and scented with fresh green leaves.

It is so transient – I know that by next week, individual flowers will be browning, leaving each bract looking singed and past its best, so I am spending time breathing in the sight and smell of them. I’ve cut some lilac to bring indoors, although it never lasts quite as long as I hope. The wonderful Jane from Snapdragon wrote some tips on her blog on makingspring flowers last longer and she kindly gave me some advice for lilac longevity.

I certainly don't have green fingers, particularly indoors, so I need to make sure to make the most of these gorgeous blooms outside for the few days they have left.

Elderflower

There is a divine smell in my kitchen - we are making elderflower cordial. My helper today is Charlie, and so far we've picked about 150 heads of flowers, enough to make litres and litres of cordial. Slightly worrying is the 10kg of sugar we've used, but it all gets diluted and the smell and taste of the elderflowers is so pungent that we never need use much of the concentrated cordial in each glass to release the heady memories of late spring.

We'll leave the elderflowers and citrus fruits to steep overnight and then strain and decant the syrup into the many plastic bottles I've been hoarding over the past weeks. It's lovely to know that we'll be enjoying this delicious essence of spring for months to come.

Boy meets bluebells

I grew up in an area renowned for its bluebell woods so for me this is a special time of year. That nature can produce such intensity of colour and scent takes me by surprise every bluebell season. We love to walk in bluebell woods in the late afternoon when the flowers seem to glow in the dimming light.

This year our Little Helper noticed them for the first time. He's already showing some of his Daddy's love of wildflowers (lots of daisies and dandelions proffered in his grubby chubby fists) but witnessing his first awareness of bluebells was a special moment.

Something I have learned from my mother

My mother has a "less is more" approach to bringing flowers from her garden into the house and it is a tradition that I love to follow. Next to the chair where she sits in the evening is a table with a notepad, a coaster, often a dish with sewing essentials in, some chocolate and usually a small vase with a single flower stem. It is a lovely way of focusing on one flower, looking closely at stamens and petals and seeing details that would be lost in a bunch of flowers.

My favourite this time of year is the hellebore above - just look at the markings on the petals - but I also love these: the yellow forsythia for its colour, the white winter honeysuckle for its divine scent and the flowering currant for its shape and the beautiful mix of green and pink.

But I am still always bowled over by the cheesy romance of a big bunch of roses! These were given to us by some friends who came to stay last weekend. Thank you J, E, L & J xxx