September has been a busy month for us, first a much needed holiday [which I'll post about soon] and then a friends wedding. We've not spent as much time outside in our garden as in other months, though when we have I've enjoyed the colours so much, the vibrant dahlias, chrysanthemums and pelargoniums are just so prolific and zingy.
[Each month I join Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards].
We didn't seem to see much of our garden this August, a combination of being busy and crap weather at weekends. I've heard others say what a wonderful summer this was, but I certainly didn't seem to notice! Still the garden has enjoyed the rain and we haven't had to spend our evenings watering like we did in July. I love the peachy pinks, and fiery oranges out there especially in the dahlias and pelargoniums.
[Each month I join Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards].
July looks a riot of colour here, but in reality the blooms are few and far between. Much like last year, July seems to be a little lacking in the actual garden, perhaps that's to do with the baking heat we're had compared to other months.... or do you find there just isn't so much in bloom come July? Let's hope things pick up in time for August.
[Each month I join Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards].
It's taken me a long time to get round to posting this June moodboard [yes, June, I know it's nearing the middle of July]!
Looking outside today it almost seems summer has past, there is a chill in the air and it poured with rain all morning. Still it's only July and I'm hoping there is more in the way of summer sun to come. June I remember as being warmer and drier, at least the watering can seemed to be out most nights.
This month I've also included a twitchy little animation, which kind of shows my process of building the moodboard. As I add more flowers I click with the camera, moving the flowers a touch this way and that, trying to create a picture as I work. This month also involved trying to banish a lot of little bugs that came amongst the flowers, they seemed especially to like the Scabiosa and Sweet Pea - you know those little critters? I could hardly believe how many seemed to be living in each flower.
[Each month I join Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards].
Hello! I'm checking in with my monthly moodboard for May, better late than not at all! The garden in bursting right now, I'm finding it hard keeping up with all the deadheading, there are just so many flowers!
In other news, I'm still trying to get my little online shop open. It's coming along, I'm just finding it hard to sit myself down in front of the screen when I come in from work. All I want is to explore the garden, checking for new growth and watering our precious plants on the way. Of course it's nice too sitting out enjoying the milder air, light evenings and relaxing by the heat of the BBQ!
And I've some exciting news to share, but that deserves a post all of it's own...
[Each month I join Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards].
The extra days off over Easter proved perfect for the garden, we spent time outside tending to jobs that needed doing, and embarking on others we relished the thought of. I also took the time to walk round and look: see what we have, see where there might be room for more plant life in the future. We enjoy our garden so much, it's become a huge part of our lives. It seems odd to think back and remember so many years we spent without one. We slowly got a taste for plants, at first a few indoors, then a few in the communal courtyard of our old inner city flat, followed by a few more - till we urned for a real space of our own to plant and inhabit.
Every month I gather flowers and foliage from the garden and photograph them in the form of these moodboards: it's fun to look back, see how the seasons change, what was in flower when and most interestingly how long different plants last, which flowers overlap.
Once again I'm joining Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards.
Another month has flown by, and here I am sharing my monthly moodboard for March. While many of last months flowers have disappeared others continue to bloom: Daffodil, Grape Hyacinth and Primrose spring to mind. Others are only just emerging, like the Tulip. For me this month is about Hyacinth and Euphorbia, two of my absolute favourites for the garden. Both seem to radiate an almost iridescent colour and magical presence: Euphorbia with it's little cup-like flowers in the zingiest of greens, Hyacinths with their heady scent and gaudy colours that rise up through the green grass.
Last month I mentioned I'd entered a couple of images from this series in our staff art show. Well they seem to have gone down quite well with my colleagues so I'm thinking of opening a little online shop, selling some prints, and perhaps some cards. I'll be sure to let you know if I do!
Once again I'm joining Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards.
I'm a little late in posting this, I took the photographs last week, but have been so busy lately that I've only just managed to download this image from the camera. But what an abundance of flowers I found, so much more than last year! And I realise looking at this now I haven't included the Japanese Flowering Quince [Chaenomeles Japonica], that's blooming along our back wall, or the Cherry Plum [Prunus cerasifera] in our front garden - my eyes were obviously fixed too firmly on the ground as I picked these!
I'm enjoying this series of garden moodboards so much, and on the whole I'm pleased with how the images turn out, so much so that I decided to have a couple printed and have framed them up to enter in the annual art show we have at work. Depending how they go down with my colleagues I might get some more prints done.
Once again I'm joining Karin and Åsa in this series of monthly moodboards.
I've been working from home today and grasped the opportunity to pop outside during my lunch break to gather flowers and foliage for this January garden moodboard. It was raining, it has been for what feels like forever here! I had my hood up and my head down, I may well have missed things along the way but I seem to have gathered more than I did this time last year. Perhaps that's because we've had a milder, wetter winter, though I'm sure it's more to do with learning where to look and being less afraid to pick and enjoy a single bloom when I find one.
I'm joining Karin and Åsa in their series of monthly moodboards.
Hello and Happy New Year to you!
I'm a few days late with this, but the garden is slow at the moment and I don't feel too much has changed in the past week - other than a few more aconites opening up. This post means I've now been joining Karin and Åsa with their monthly moodboards for a complete year! I'll do another post soon where I recap on 2013 and show all 12 monthly moodboards in one post [if you can't wait till then, click here]. I've absolutely loved joining in this monthly challenge, it's fascinating to see what is in flower, and when, in our garden. As well as how long the blooms continue and how the foliage changes throughout the seasons. Not only that, it's fun noticing the differences between our Cambridgeshire garden, and those in other parts of the UK and those much further afield. I'm already looking forward to taking part in 2014 and being able to compare year on year in the future!
I'm joining Karin and Åsa with a monthly moodboard for November - a collection of seasonal flowers, foliage and fruits from the garden. The garden is filled with the golden hues of autumn, a little green here and there, berries, seed pods, but hardly a flower in sight.
I'm joining Karin and Åsa with a monthly moodboard for October - a collection of seasonal flowers, foliage and fruits from the garden. I love the colours here, even without so many flowers I still found beautiful almost fluorescent colour lurking outside.
Gosh it's that time again, the months just seem to fly by here! I'm joining Karin and Åsa with a monthly moodboard for September - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden.
I'm joining Karin and Åsa with a monthly moodboard for August - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden. This month was tricky, not because flowers were hard to find, it was taking the shots this time. I chose lunchtime on a sunny day, the room was hot, the flowers were wilting, and the sun was casting crazy shadows. But I quite like the effect - sunny colours basking in the bright sun while the dusky hues linger in the shade.
Late again! 2 days this time. I'm joining Karin and Åsa with a monthly moodboard for July - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden. At first glance the garden doesn't appear to have as much colour as recent months, but as looked around I found small pockets of brights. I snipped away carefully so as not to take too much. I've chosen to include some from the veg patch this month, a pretty purple pea pod and a vibrant green runner bean.
A day late. I'm joining Karin and Åsa with a monthly moodboard for June - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden, in this case mostly flowers there are just so many to choose from and too many to name.
I'm joining in with Karin and Åsa again with a monthly moodboard - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden.
aquilegia • thrift • alkanet • buttercup • lilac • hawthorn • cow parsley, and some whose names I don't know yet. A mix of bright colour and heady scent.
I'm joining in with Karin and Åsa again with a monthly moodboard - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden.
cow parsley • a little yellow flower from the rock garden (?) • geum • chaenomeles • a little pink flower from the rock garden (?) • cherry blossem • euphorbia • alkanet
Do you know the names of those I don't?
I'm joining Karin again in her monthly moodboard series - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden. Last week felt so spring like and I would never have imagined then that I'd be rummaging in the snow for this month's garden moodboard!
chaenomeles • daffodil • hellebore • plum blossom • grape hyacinth • primula • hyacinth • daffodil • forsythia • honeysuckle [names left to right as they appear in top picture]
I'm joining Karin again in her monthly moodboard series - a collection of seasonal flowers, and foliage from the garden. I thought this month would be a struggle, and wasn't sure it would differ much from last. Despite the fact I've been spending a fair bit of time in the garden these past weekends, I've been too busy pruning to really stop and look - unaware of the little splashes of colour that have been popping up out there. So when I took a little time today to walk slowly round, I had a lovely surprise - tiny splashes of zingy bright purples, yellows and limey greens, signaling spring is on it's way.
mahonia • violet • primula • hellebore • winter jasmine • snowdrop • I'm not sure of the others, the little white one may be scilla - perhaps you know?
