Feeling rather uninspired by my studio walls, I took myself off into the countryside for a nature hit. First up were the gardens at Great Dixter in Sussex. Created by the great gardener and garden writer Christopher Lloyd, they have been under the care of Fergus Garrett for 33 years. I feel like a child in a sweet shop when I am there, and it is one of my favourite gardens in the world. This year it was packed with zinnias in the most glorious clashing colour combinations.
The following weekend I headed to Wiltshire for my next whirlwind of colour. I spent an afternoon with my dear friend Tania, who is now a master of natural dyes, so witchy jars and piles of dried petals festooned the tables. We went for a dusk walk on Cranborne Chase and marvelled at the pastel skies as the sun set over the hills, reflecting off the perfectly camouflaged sheep.
The next day my lovely new friend Cindy, whom I met in January in India, drove me around like a princess. We stopped at Hauser & Wirth and admired the abundant, densely planted flower beds. I was getting really inspired by this point.
After a fun night spent at Cindy's, where I gatecrashed her neighbour's birthday party, we headed to Black Shed flower farm. It is owned by Tania's friends Helen and Paul Stickland, and it has been about four years since I last visited. And wow, it has come a long way. It is huge! Packed with amazing plants, I rushed about madly (as I had run out of time at this point) with a pair of secateurs, chopping away. A massive thank you to Cindy for being so patient with me :-)
I now have a billion ideas, I just need some time to be able to get on and design, which when you run a business and have a thousand hats to wear is not easy. Stay tuned to see what comes next....
