May

If May were a person, she would be Venus; beautiful, radiant and full of life, and if May were a dance she would be a ballet; a sequence of serene movements, perfectly rehearsed and enchanting to watch.

What May is not however, is a month for the dreamer. Oh no, your eyes must stay sharp and mind alert or else blink, and you’ll find yourself mourning the Bluebells for yet another year. Cow Parsley lace and tutu’s of Hawthorn, May is here and not for long, so put on your dancing shoes, there is no time to waste…

1. In the Field

The fields are now in full-play, star of the show this year are the meadow buttercups and foxtail grasses. The much anticipated Hawthorn bellows from the wings and the dog-rose applies her last touch of blush ready to make an appearance at the end. I tip-toe through, placing my step lightly, in fear I’ll hurt a performer and the whole show will just pack up. Holding my breath at moments and applauding at others, this is the performance I long for all year round and it never disappoints!

2. In the Woods

It is the light in that makes the woodland magic in May. Of course, there are Bluebells, quintessential and perfumed, but for me, it is the light. Birch leaves cast shadows, dappled gold below my feet and the blackened picture of an un-furled fern nods up and down, its puppeteer just above. With Bluebells now gone, the woodland floor takes a moment of breath and I too find respite from the pace of this month, stopping for a moment to hear the cuckoo and perhaps even a nightingale too.

3. In the Cauldron

This month my cauldron has been busy, not so much with my own projects and practise but with multiple hands dipping fabrics and curious eyes peering into to baths of native plant-dye. May has been busy with workshops for me. Starting off with the book launch party for Fern (@foraged.by.fern) and then the Garden Museum event the week after. Finishing off with a workshop for Michael Wachter’s (@michael_wachter) Ethnobotany course at Great Dixter. For me, this is what my natural dye work is all about; sharing the magic of our native and wild plants and hopefully instilling a sense of awe or better still, connection within others. So, I am feeling very full of contentment and gratitude, to the plants and people I get to work with.

That said, I have found time to continue my practise and with the welcome of colourful flowers and pigmented petals, I was able to journey deeper with bundle-dyeing. This is a method of dyeing in which petals and leaves are pressed onto fibres, leaving a painterly impression of colour and the very outline of the materials can be printed too. This method has taken me some time to research and explore. Mainly because I am devoted to using native and wild flowers in my practise which aren’t always as bold in colour nor pigment. I am finally feeling happy with my outcomes and for this reason will be offering a Flower Printing Workshop come July teaching exactly how to achieve this method. I find this way of dyeing to be so mesmerising, I wanted to share it with as many people as possible and so have made the workshop very affordable to keep it inclusive. Do take a look at the link here and perhaps join me, it would be a delight to have you there.

4. In the Garden

Lately, I have been reflecting a lot on what gardening means for me. When I first started gardening, I had no professional experience other than pootling about with my Dad and my perception drawn from books - a few that left a mark being; ‘The Secret Garden’ Frances Hodgson Burnett, ‘How to Enjoy your Weeds’ Audrey Hatfield, ‘In and out the Garden’ Sara Midda, ‘Wilding’ Isabella Tree, ‘The Garden Awakening’ Mary Reynolds. (On writing this, I am realising that all of these authors are female, how wonderful! I am also realising that it is all of their avant-garde attitudes to gardening that I was, and am still drawn to.)

With my slightly narrow-minded understanding of gardening actually came a lot of beauty. Completely unaware of the ‘proper’ way to do things and the standards of other gardeners, I felt unprohibited, creative and I guess a little bit, well, ‘wild’ in the way I worked (not all too surprising given the books I had read). Sure, it didn’t always pay-off but there would be times it would and I think most importantly for me, I felt I was able to express myself quite care-freely whilst also knowing I was creating with other species in mind.

I guess what I am trying to say here, is that you don’t need a formal training to be a gardener. Gardening can be done for so many different reasons; to express creativity, to grow food, to create community, to push boundaries, to attract more insects or even as a way to unwind from a busy day (usually a number of different reasons that happen to overlap with others). And as for me, well, I have realised that I garden for joy… for abundance, community and to celebrate diversity in people and plants!

I believe it is so important that more people feel confident to garden. It really is such a powerful way to connect with the world around us and to feel a part of nature, yes, you read correctly, we really are a part OF nature! So, if you, at home or wherever you are right now, feel an itch to get your hands in the soil but worry you ‘don’t have green fingers’ or don’t know the Latin names of plants, I would really encourage you to open a pack of seeds, head out to the nearest patch of earth, a road-side verge will do, and just begin to sow. Then water, and watch things grow. Gardening is magic and anyone can do it.

5. Inspiration

At the end of this month, I had the privilege of taking a trip to Lake Bohinj, Slovenia. This trip was funded by the RHS and my motive for going was to research and better understand the cultures connection to their wild and native plants. I planned to go for the International Wild Flower Festival which takes place there annually. I sort of knew that what I was going to experience would be wonderful but I had no idea quite like this…

There is really too much to say in one journal piece, and it would be impossible to convey how this place and the people moved me, but I will do my best to consolidate my main learnings-

It was clear from the initial bus ride from the airport to Bohinj that the people actively celebrate and protect their countries floral wealth. The road sides were a sea of wild flowers, a sweet shop of colour from Knapweed to Salsify. After attending a guided tour with a local and tasting the delicious home-cooked and often foraged food in Alpine mountain huts, it was evident that the people here look beyond just the beauty of plants. It would seem they have a relationship with their surroundings; telling stories of plant folklore, gathering mountain herbs for tea and even playing music in the woods (that actually happened, I know!), the people interact with the land. In this way, they are looking after the plants and the plants are looking after them.

For me, the wild flower meadows symbolise this so beautifully; the meadows are not there by chance but are the result of thousands of years of coexistence between humans and the land. Without humans, these meadows would largely be forest, Heather and rock.

I came away feeling never more passionate and in love with my work; to connect people to our soil, to our native and wild plants and to the stories and gifts they hold. I have returned with a renewed sense of energy and the motivation to continue on this journey.