Some flowers just keep giving and giving.
Here’s a shot about two minutes later as the tulip just catches the setting sun.
And, another photo, a few days later. The fading bloom is still enchanting and certainly gives us a fine example of the Japanese aesthetic, wabi sabi.
Finally we had a sunny day and I ventured out to have a quick look round the garden. The hellebore flowers and the hebe foliage are looking colourful, but that was about all.
So feeling impatient I’ve cheated for my spring bouquet and bought some tulips to add a little more flower power. These tulips are Libretto Parrot and will open into a frilly, striped affair.
I’m sure I used to have pink and green stripy tulips (Greenland) in the front garden, but I don’t think I planted them deep enough to survive more than one season. Still, these parrots will bring a burst of spring colour indoors.
It’s Chelsea this week and it’s pouring with rain, so English! And thinking of flowers I see that the tulips are just finishing their annual contribution to the garden. They provide beautiful strong intense colours,
but also delicate shades for the spring garden.
And, then there is the drama of using tulips in a restricted palette for the odd flower arrangement or two.
But it has been white, at least in my garden this spring, that has been the most eye-catching accent colour against the fresh green.
Change in the season, change in the light and often a change in mood and we respond with seeking out a slightly different palette. I have just made up a selection of yellow tints to use as backgrounds. I’ve noticed a lot of pastel coloured jackets and shoes whilst browsing through the style pages recently and as you can see I’ve been influenced.
I’ve decided to combine the pale pinks and blues with a yellow background. In a spare moment I had a quick review of my other finished work and noticed more pink from the last 12 months than I’d remembered!
But, of course, mother nature does pink the best.
Agnes Ashe 