Oh how I've missed the flower garden in Greenwich Park

My regular daily commute used to involve more than coming down the stairs and heading for the dining room table, it used to have quite a picturesque walk through Greenwich Park. And yes, I know I’m lucky. And while the park has been open, the flower garden had been shut.

It has reopened, and on our mammoth Thames Path walk I couldn’t resist a slight detour even though my feet were already aching. And being there just emphasised how much I’d missed my almost daily park visit, even though my glimpse of the flowers was often minimal.

The neatly manicured borders, with the plants flowering almost uniformly made me smile.

The bursts of colour.

And even, unusually, the more formal beds. Usually I’d be slightly more unkind and refer to these as ‘municipal’.

But really it’s the hydrangeas and the lace caps which line the path that once again had my attention.

And yes, why wouldn’t it?

It’s a plant I don’t have in my garden, and one I don’t have the space for. But it’s also going straight on my list for our next garden, whenever that comes along.

But then again the delicate lace caps, are also vying for a place in that fictional space. I’m going to need enough space for them both aren’t I? Though for now, I’ll be making do with those in Greenwich Park, and hoping that the flower garden manages to stay open.

The Echeveria Gallery at RHS Wisley

It seems like a lifetime ago since we visited RHS Wisley, but it was actually only six months. So much has happened across the world since then. I’ve not been as present on my blog as I usually am, but I’m hoping to be back here more often. Just a scroll through my unedited photos was enough to inspire me to start posting, and start editing photos again. I’m not sure if that’s coincidence that that coincides with a couple of days off, or something deeper.

I’m not sure if this is a permanent installation at Wisley, but I very much hope it is. The next time we’re there I’ll be heading to the hot houses (as usual) to check.

Either way when I saw these framed succulents, I knew they were right for today’s post. Before lockdown, I had plans to create my own frame of succulents but that’s been slightly scuppered as going to a garden centre hasn’t happened yet, even though they’ve reopened. My succulents over-wintered well, but I don’t have quite enough to fill a frame, and if i’m honest, I hoped to add to my collection!

Not that I plan to compete with this display, a single frame was my aim.

But maybe I should aim higher? And if not hight, be more ambitious. Though I suspect that once you start they’ll be addictive. I’m sure I’ve got a few more old picture frames hanging around. Well, not actually hanging around, but you know what I mean.

I’m not sure mine will be as grand, especially as I planned to hang them on the garden fence!

Looking more closely at the frame on the right in the picture below, you can just see some of the mesh which keeps the plants in place. I’d not worked out how I would do that, but this gives me some clues. I’m sure I must have something that could also work, though chicken wire might be too ‘open’.

The frame on the left above, I’ve just realised is much more stylised than I’d ever hope to achieve. Actually growing succulents vertically is my aim!

A 'green' ironing pad

One of our finds during lockdown is cheese deliveries. I know, what a find, and quite a treat. We’ve had three so far and each time we’re encouraged to order another after tasting the fabulous British cheeses. They arrive well packaged, using WoolCool to insulate the packages. The pure wool insulation is reusable and if you look at #LetsBoxClever on social media, you’ll start to see how.

I’ve talked before about my mini iron, a birthday present this year, and how just by having a mini iron I’ll sew more - because having an iron near the sewing machine, is a real boon! What I quickly realised is that not having anything to iron on, was my newest dilemma.

I tried a towel, and while it was ok, it wasn’t great. Then I remembered the insulation from the cheese deliveries. I was convinced it would work, which to be honest was based on little more than enthusiasm.

So off I went to create.

I found some material that I thought would be wasted on face coverings, and made my ironing pad big enough to fit the material!

Before I cut the wool insulation, I thought it might be nice to leave the natural fibres on display. However once I cut it and saw the mess it left behind I quickly changed my mind!

It’s working really well, and hopefully will inspire more people to try this #LetsBoxClever idea.