Roses, peonies & Vert De Terre walls

Kids holidays do make the daily routine of gardening, picking, seed sowing, admin and all the other jobs that go into running this business, slightly harder to achieve at times.   Thankfully we have a brilliant gardener, Mark, who works with us one day a week.  We'd love to have him full-time *dreams*! 

Today Mark was weeding his way through the 180 roses we have growing on the farm.  They look incredibly healthy and with a weekly feed we are hoping to keep them that way.  I've been watching the roses budding up but with the recent cooler weather they seem to be sitting tight for a minute.  BUT I did find enough to have a little play with a few of the peonies that decided to put in an appearance.  Typically they came too late for last weekends weddings.  Peonies - it's a love hate relationship and anyone that grows them will surely know what I mean?! 

I've been desperate to find a little photography spot at home but my old Victorian cottage isn't the easiest to mould into capturing floral images.... until it was that I turned my son's bedroom upside down and found a clear wall.  So that's it; poor little man is going to have to live with me moving his bed into the middle of the room to do 'more flower stuff!'....  

Along with the roses and peonies I've included a stunning anemone that has got better with age, aquilegia, foxgloves, lupins, sweet rocket, geums, mint, clematis and sweet pea trendils. 

Then I did something I don't very often do - I laid the bouquet down.  I'm not sure why I don't photograph it in this way more often, maybe I'm worried about flattening the bouquet or perhaps it's getting the angle right so you don't see too much stem.  This bouquet looked so pillowy laid down and I got a bit snap happy!  Enjoy x

Beautiful silk bundles from Lancaster & Cornish.

Wall paint Farrow & Ball - 'Vert De Terre'