MARCH MUSINGS
Seasonal stories and notable happenings from the team behind Ochre Botanical Studios.
Thank you for joining us here!
Happy Mothering Sunday today to all the caregivers, nurturers, mentors, wonderful women and special people. Wishing you all a restful and restorative day (despite the hour rudely taken from us this morning)!
And so here we are, somehow, in March already. With a big gulp of spring air, a little sunshine on my face and the delight of seeing flowers popping their heads out of the ground, I feel like I can finally emerge from hibernation (…I haven’t quite grasped the concept of winter hygge yet). I am SO happy to see flowers again. I’ve been thinking about them all winter. Seeds have been sown, bulbs are happily emerging and the dried skeletons of herbaceous perennials that held on all winter long now have fresh green tufts of new growth at their bases.
I always find folk asking us florists what our favourite flower is. It’s a mean question because we love all our children equally. A top ten per season would be a kinder query, but with the fickle caveat that the answers may change in a heartbeat.
That said, when this question was asked in my pre-floristry days, as a little child, my answer wouldn’t usually be met with such reticence. I’d cheerfully reply ‘daffodils!’ and quite frankly, I often find myself giving the same reply these days. There was, if you’ll forgive the pun, a fair bit of narcissism behind this answer: daffodils were always flowering abundantly around the time of my birthday so I suppose they reminded me of… me?
I’ve since gained some better reasons for the fondness: for starters, they’re YELLOW which, equal to brown, is the best colour for flowers. Secondly, they’re so uplifting – there’s something about those jolly trumpets that fail to crack a smile. Another fond association I have with narcissus is that they are the namesake of a place that developed me in my formative florist years, a place I was grateful to meet many inspiring colleagues and friends. Maybe most significantly, I love that they are both ubiquitous and yet also very niche. From swathes of daffs taking over the local park to specialist varieties grown by clever cultivators; they’re recognisable and accessible for all, but you can get geeky about them too.
So here’s to celebrating those little doses of sunshine, the bombastic yellow trumpets and the fried eggs, the graceful bells and the flat-nosed delights. Thank you daffodils for being the cheerful harbingers of spring.
I’d just like to add a disclaimer: I’m not saying daffs are necessarily my all time favourite, just that they evoke a particular combination of joy and nostalgia that other blooms don’t just quite hit on. A feeling some might have for their late granddad’s sweet peas or memories of toddling around a city rose garden. Big patches of block yellow to fill the eyes and an overpowering heady scent to get lost in.
Favourite Varieties
Some of our daffodil top hits in the garden include Arctic Bells, Thalia, Replete, Obdam, Xit, Cyclamineus Jenny and Avalon.
Date for your Diary 27th April: Spring Jam Jars and Volunteer Gardening, 2-4pm
We’ll be hosting an afternoon of gentle floristry, making spring jam jars. We’d also like to welcome you to join us in the garden where you can get stuck in and take a glimpse into the life of a small-scale flower farmer.
No booking necessary. Donations for GCWG gratefully received.
Daff Inspo
Speak again soon...
