sussex prairie garden

For anyone living in the Sussex area I would definitely recommend a trip to visit the Sussex Prairie Garden this summer. We went last Sunday and for nature and plant lovers it is such a treat.

The garden has been designed in a naturalistic free flowing style, with interlocking arc shapes mixing areas of open lawn with plant-filled borders. There are loads of little paths that you can follow through the planted areas which I really loved.




I couldn't believe how peaceful the garden is. It's nestled in a quiet bit of the Sussex countryside, so at times all we could hear was the rustle of the wind in the long grasses, and the sound of hundreds of bees hard at work.

Gosh, there were a lot of bees and butterflies! They were loving it.






There are loads of sculptural pieces in amongst all the plants too - and a great eclectic selection of birdhouses at the entrance to the garden. There are a few more photos over on my Flickr page.







We had a good explore, and then treated ourselves to a visit to the teashop before we went home.

The garden is open until the 11th October this year and I'd wholly recommend taking a trip down there. The sooner the better, while there are so many flowers in bloom!

They run a lot of events too, and I'll be heading back for a weekend Shibori, Sashiko and Boro dyeing and embroidery workshop in September. I'm really looking forward to it.

And I'm extra excited about eating my packed lunch in the garden.

evening exploring

Look at all these poppies! We found them on Tuesday night when we went for a little drive into the South Downs near Falmer.

It's definitely worth popping up there if you live nearby. They look lovely by sunset.

 

green fingers

Sorry for my absence. I've been spending a lot of time outdoors and have just arrived back from an early summer holiday. My gardening obsession is still in full force though.

Here are some recent botanical based images from our house and garden taken from my Instagram feed.



Planting out the beans on Ben's birthday // Pest control - collecting the snails for relocation.



African daisies (Osteospermum). I like their purple undersides // Love in the mist (Nigella) - we have these everywhere!



A new pot for a tiny succulent // Aloe vera (I've been meaning to get one of these for ages)



How the garden grows. Our veg patch before and after our holiday // Bringing the garden indoors - a mini bouquet.

Now that we have a lot of things planted outside the garden is looking nice and full. Unfortunately we have already lost our cucumber plants to those pesky snails, but the cabbage, courgettes and beans are growing nicely (despite being a little nibbled). And we have a lot of tomato plants on the go. Four different varieties!

We planted out some more seeds yesterday too. Some wildflowers have been scattered around the garden, and the Cima di Rapa and Cicoria I received in the secret seed swap have been potted and placed in the greenhouse.

I'll keep you posted on how things get on.

plenty of purple

I've noticed a bit of a purple theme around me in the last week or so.

Clockwise from top left: Brodiaea, a treat to myself // Blueberries on a homemade cheesecake // Flowers that remind me of rainbow drops // A near-finished knitting project.

I wouldn't usually put purple near the top of my favourite colours list, but these things are doing it for me!

around the house

Paper pineapple // New sheets to start the week // A rose from the garden

floral

There are flowers everywhere at the moment. Everything has bloomed all at once.

I'm finding it hard to resist bringing some home with me every day.
Not so great for the hayfever...

signs of summer

There are colours everywhere.

I found one of the blue envelopes from give mondays today. It was a really sweet surprise - I'm going to keep it in my bag until a worthy cause presents itself.

the park

I went to St.Ann's Well gardens after work today to do some drawing. I find it hard going home before sunset now, as I have noticed how much shorter the days are becoming and I want to make the most of the summer sunshine.



It was very peaceful, apart from the cheers from the cricket ground, which were a pleasant interruption as I feel a bit lost without any olympics to watch. I did a bit of bee watching before going home for tea.

wildflowers don't care where they grow...

 This is a pretty time of year.

oxalis triangularis

On Saturday I'm flying out to Japan for two weeks to see my good friend Yumi.
I can't wait!

cyclamen

Yesterday felt a lot like wintertime to me. This may have been because I only managed to stir myself from my slumber at almost two in the afternoon (hibernation?), but it was also a nice crisp cold day.

There's also something about going to the shops while it is getting dark that makes things feel very festive. I think I am ready now. Bring on the chocolate coins!

While I was in the mood to embrace the Christmas spirit I bought an advent candle for our mantlepiece, and a little potted Cyclamen to bring some red and green to our coffee table. Sweet flowers!

Ho ho ho!

lady in red

Last week I finished this nice red jumper - just in time for the festive season!

The pattern was from this book (very 80s) and was called 'White Lady', but I opted for a colour change as my last knitting project was this off-white number. This one only took a few weeks to make - thank god for short sleeves - and is nice and soft to wear, although maybe a bit shorter than desired.

I splashed out a bit on the wool for this project as I'm trying to move away from the cheap acrylic stuff that I'm so often tempted by (I'm now confident in my abilities to knit something without going drastically awry). The wool I chose was Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK and it is very soft to the touch. Although while I was knitting I did notice that the colour kept rubbing off onto my hands (I have pink fingerprints on my macbook now!) which I wasn't so keen on. I made sure to give it a wash before wearing it for the first time though and I think that's sorted it out.

And now I am without a knitting project - most unusual. I am trying to spend less time with the needles so am not going to embark on any big projects for a while. At our knitting meet-up this week I made these crochet flowers for my mum's friend...



Small and simple - and instantly gratifying. Maybe I'll make some mini Christmas knits to get me in the festive spirit next.

In other news, I've been very inspired by Emily's posts on indoor gardening so am now attempting to propagate one of our houseplants from a stem cutting. I took a new shoot off the existing plant and have been keeping it in a jug of water for about a week to see if anything would happen.



Today I moved the cutting into a plant pot so fingers crossed it takes root.

I am really quite a useless gardener so if anyone has any better tips on propagation then please do pass them on!

cornflower blue, tomato red

Hannah gave me some of her tomato plants a couple of weeks ago and today I spent my morning re-potting them and introducing them to the outside world.

I hope they flourish, not perish (like most of my other plants).

I've also recently decided that cornflowers are one of my favourite flowers. I bought a bunch 2 weeks ago and they are still going strong. Although I think the pollen is making me cough...

flowers

Here is my latest print, which was semi-inspired by my collection of floral embroideries.

This one was carved from vinyl and printed in a couple of different colour ways - blue & pink. My intention is to list some of my prints in my etsy shop in the very near future. Watch this space.

For now, I have booked in another printing session, so I must get carving...

flowers everywhere

Especially in Rottingdean. Springtime in primary colours.

here comes the sun

I'm going on holiday tomorrow. Perfect!

petit bouquet de fleurs

I bought myself a small bunch of daffodils.
I hope they show their faces soon.

to the north

Another really good weekend.
The best.

It was a shame to return to real life, but I was met in the sun by Brighton's fastest crocheter, and then returned home to find my garden in full bloom. It could be worse.