March 2023
Flower fashions - Bulbs to plant now - Plant-powered fashion - P-B links
So it turns out the old adage “blue and green should never be seen” is a safety consideration not an aesthetic one – which is lucky because I have just painted my whole house variations on this theme. Sailors warned of having a green boat as it made them hard to spot against the blue sea, a rule that makes much more sense than the idea that blue and green look anything but totally harmonious next to one another. I did always think it rather odd that the two colours most abundant on earth, the colours we reach for as toddlers to draw the sky, the grass, the flowers and sea were sworn enemies never to be seen side by side. But in fact they weren’t, that was just a Chinese whisper, or sea shanty that got lost in translation and was later brandished as a rule. Well not anymore, green and blue is indeed ok, more than that, it’s the bees knees, or at least where the bees often rest their knees (bees are more attracted to purple and blue-coloured flowers because these have shorter wavelengths like UV light ).
I don’t wear much blue but it turns out I really bloody love it, because as I said, unwittingly I have slathered it over almost every paintable surface in my house, alongside my other high-sat stalwart, green. It was only when moving back in, that my subliminal true colours became liminal. I’d like to say something prosaic about the natural world and a sense of calm these colours instil across our collective consciousness, but in truth I think the reason I have gone all in on blue and green is probably because they’re in fashion. And I’m not really someone who thinks they follow fashions but in this overwhelmingly visual world we live in, I think you’d have to be made of light-reflective Teflon not to absorb some of the hues and views of the reigning aesthetic orthodoxy. Which also, absurdly, applies to plants.
Having come to gardens later in life, I landed with little knowledge about what plants were deemed fashionable, or even the fact that they could even be categorised in the same way that people talk about the shape of jeans. Styles of planting yes, naturalistic vs immaculate clipped and mown lawns for example, but for a plant to be deemed dated just feels weird – are we going to do the same to animals? Pandas? So nineties.
I loved my plant blindness when I first started - all plants were granted equitable status and assessed for their characteristics and true value in a garden. I remain deeply loyal to Euphorbia wulfenni for this reason, and am currently flirting with Buddleia, the original poster girl for pollinator friendly gardens (perhaps its childhood memories catching butterflies from one at home that has left a soft spot). In their spellbinding garden at Chelsea 2021, Harris Bugg used Begonia in a way that made me review its municipal reputation, and this spring has seen the widespread adoration of the gaudy Daff, in all its yolky glory. And then there’s Dahlias, the ultimate comeback kid - now such a stalwart of any self-respecting insta-gardeners feed, it’s hard to believe they were once the preserve of slightly dweeby allotment growers and competitive local shows
Genetic diversity is an ever more pressing issue as species slip off the radar due to the changing climate. And there will be hundreds of damp, shade loving plants we simply wont be able to grow as temperatures rise across the board, so now is the time indulge whim and fancy. Ignore the flower fashion press and get knee deep in bedding plants if that’s what tickles you. Dye plants, edible plants, they I’m off to plant some pampas grass.
Plant-powered Fashion
The other day I read a comment about bedrooms in the 1950’s being much smaller because everyone had so few clothes compared today. The whole concept of a walk-in wardrobe, which seem to be standard fare these days according to most interiors mags, have evolved entirely thanks to our irrepressible consumption of fashion. I’m no angel, and have had my fair share of fast-fashion splurges over the years but since working on my garden at Chelsea last year, I have completely changed the way I think about clothes and consumption. I have a few simple rules (natural fabrics and can I wear it 100 times?) which have filtered out a lot of the unnecessary and naughty. Another very useful thought came from Lucy Harrild founder of Comhla, a brilliant resource on all things #sustfash, who said that a single brand can’t solve all problems. The problems in fashion are myriad - supply chain, raw materials, overuse of chemicals, labour abuses, air miles, water and energy consumption - and it’s unrealistic to expect a single brand to resolve all of these. So you have to be realistic, pick the battle that means most to you, and support the brands who are trying, the brands that are working towards change within a deeply flawed system. Here some of my faves.
Seventy + Mochi - how many jumpsuits can one girl have? Turns out quite a few. Adore these guys for easy everyday denim and cotton that has become my uniform and earns its cost per wear pretty quickly.
Mirla Beane - smaller brand with a focus on prints and colour. Have an incredible recycled cashmere vest from here and a lovely skirt that gets weekly wear in summer.
Mother of Pearl - at the high end but if you have seen founder Amy Powney’s incredible film Fashion Reimagined, you would understand why.
Mara Hoffman - this is def in the treat category but included because Mara and her team really are pioneering sustainability in luxury fashion. They also have a Resale page where you can sometimes find a total gem. Great podcast with Claire Press and Mara here.
Thought Clothing - these guys have been doing it since before it was cool and I totally trust their supply chain. Hot high fashion but great for basics, and I think their jeans are cut well
And the Good On You rating system is a go-to resource if you want to look up a brand and see how they fare.
Autumn bulb appreciation society - bulbs, tubers, corms to get in for Autumn colour
It feels almost sacrilegious to be talking of any other bulb while poised on the precipice of tulip season, but this is exactly the point – bulbs at the other end of the season get overlooked and forgotten but are the busy (lazy) gardener’s secret weapon. As with this season’s stars, it really is as easy as bung them in and wait for the show to start (with the exception of dahlias which although not bulbs I have included here, and really aren’t that much of a faff). They feel like such a gift and add stand out colour and wow to pots and borders just when the rest of the garden starts to flag.
Here are my favourite late season bulbs, corms and tubers to plant this month, or as soon as your tulips are over.
Gladiolus byzantinus
The Pat Butcher of gladdies, the hottest pink imaginable and very hard not to have a soft spot for.
Gladiolus murielae
I have these year after year, they’re just such easy company, working happily grouped in a pot or dotted throughout a bed. I love the strappy foliage and they smell delicious too.
Cosmosatrosanguineus 'Chocamocha'
This is up there with one of my fave plants ever, they are the most gorgeous dark velvet burgundy brown flowers, and smell like chocolate. They’re not the toughest (chocolate chip) cookies, I seem to loose them over winter, so going to bring them in this year. Farmer Gracy now selling them as a tuber which they say makes for a stronger plant.
Agapathus ‘Black Magic’
I love the deep purple, sultry and delicious ones – white also gorgeous if you have a more paired back sundrenched scheme going on – they like being in pots, in full sun, next to people drinking Gin and Tonics.
Dahlia 'Verrone's Obsidian'
This is my new fave dahlia shape – see also ‘Honka’. Delicate little stars with curled velvet petals, they’re such a cool shape – great as foil to all the other blousy show-offs and on their own in a bud vase.
Plant-based links / recipes / thoughts / and ideas:
Sarah Raven’s latest book on veg – destined to be my de facto bible. Sarah’s knowledge is totally unrivalled, she has done years of trialling and testing so we don’t have to. In this she lists the veg that’s worth the faff, and what’s best left for the die-hards with enviable amounts of free time, and what we should make room for.
Getting married / christening a child / having a shin-dig that warrants a fabulous cake this summer? You need one of these! Almost too good to eat (almost), spectacularly beautiful and straight up delicious. Maybe I’ll get married again or actually get round to christening my children…
I wrote about sustainable gardening for Thought Clothing
And about this wonderful garden in Provence and how to recreate it for House & Garden
Bucolic scenes of rural idylls to plaster on walls and windows from the wonderful Beki Bright
Growing food for hospitals – shouldn’t be radical but it is
Wild garlic labneh: slathered on toast with kimchi / smoked salmon / roast broccoli, dolloped on roast chicken or next to lamb - make a batch and you will find a use for it.
Wild garlic Kievs - food of the gods. Make some for the freezer as a gift to your future self.
Enjoy the sun!