Is it nearly spring yet?

Is it nearly spring yet? I can barely remember the joy of lockdown 1.0 when we could actually go outside in the garden, have a large gin and tonic in the sun and forget for at least half an hour that we were trapped in a global pandemic with no signs of a resolution - aah, those were the days.

I think we can all agree that this winter has been really tough and if you've not cried on a Teams work call, eaten your body weight in Indian takeaway or out of desperation started watching funniest tv bloopers on youtube, I'd say you were doing pretty well.

Having done all three of the above, I can say I'm definitely ready for spring and there really is so much to look forward to, especially when it comes to flowers.

I can remember a vauge plan last year to make sure that in spring, my garden would be filled with beautifully bright flowers. I think this was some sort of attempt to make my very small patch of garden resemble Monty Don's jewel garden in some way. I definitely bought a lot of over-the-top red and orange tulips but where exactly I've planted them, I have no idea!

The daffodils however have already started appearing and I can't wait to see those bursts of yellow as I walk down my path in the morning.

Spring of course is also sowing time and soon I'll be gathering seed trays and compost and working away in the greenhouse. Seeds are another thing I bought last year with not much of a plan. It's only my second year of cultivating a cutting garden and there's so many to choose from, I'm still getting the hang of what's best to grown and when. Somehow I've ended up with at least 4 packets of cornflower so expect lots of blue arrangements this year. My aim is to sow flowers which dry well so that I can use them in wreaths at christmas. I'm going to try out a number of different strawflower varieties which I think are flowers my grandparents used to dry in their garage when I was growing up. They seem to be becoming more popular and I think I'll be able to use them mixed in with fresh flower bouquets too. As we don't know (at least at the point I'm writing this), whether weddings will be able to go ahead this year, it's good to have flowers that can dry well and be saved for another occasion.

I will be sharing some of my spring garden photos with you soon (make sure to follow @the_freshford_florist on instagram for updates) and I hope you have a lovely start to your Spring. If there's one thing that lockdown has taught us, it's that even when the world stops, the seasons keep going and the flowers keep growing.