How to make a simple succulent arrangement - tutorial from Porrige

Porrige has a lovely tutorial for making a floral arrangement using succulents from the garden

"everything for my bouquet was found in my front yard. now before you think that i have this awesome garden on my doorstep, i don't. to give you some perspective nathan has said that our yard is like the secret garden---before they fixed it up"

Go take a look and be inspired. Porrige

Planting Spring Bulbs in Cake Tins - Inspirational Recyclying

Don't those spring bulbs look great in the springform cake tin?

I just wonder if I'd rather have chocolate cake....

I BELIEVE NOTHING

I BELIEVE NOTHING


I believe nothing – what need


Surrounded as I am with marvels of what is,


This familiar room, books, shabby carpet on the floor,


Autumn yellow jasmine, chrysanthemums, my mother’s flower,


Earth-scent of memories, daily miracles,


Yet media-people ask, “Is there a God?”


What does the word mean


To the fish in his ocean, birds


In his skies, and stars?


I only know that when I turn in sleep


Into the invisible, it seems


I am upheld by love, and what seems is


Inexplicable here and now of joy and sorrow,


This inexhaustible, untidy world -


I would not have it otherwise.



by Kathleen Raine

Snowdrops

Today was the perfect day for a walk through the snowdrops,

the sun was shining and the sky was blue and new life was erupting everywhere.

One Small Mouse

Photo by Serena Cowdy

Just discovered a wonderful blog doing very good work -

One Small Mouse

"One Small Mouse unites people who care about animals with the causes that need their help.

Britain is known as a nation of animal lovers - and that's something to be very proud of.

But at the moment, times are really tough. Many people can no longer afford to give money to charity - and at the same time, more and more animals are being abandoned by owners who feel they can no longer afford to look after them.

The good news is, there's plenty you can do to help - even if you're as poor as a church mouse. In every post, we'll highlight one small thing you can do to help pets and wildlife in need.

It could be as simple as giving your old newspapers to your local pet rescue, counting the birds in your back garden or re-tweeting an urgent re-homing request.

We want to show you that you don't need to be rich to help good causes - there are many ways to give that won't leave you out of pocket.

On his own, one small mouse can't do very much. But if every small mouse helps once in a while, we really can make a huge difference. When it comes to mouseketeers, it really is a case of 'one fur all and all fur one'!"

Do take a look - One Small Mouse

Inspirational Recycling - Succulents in Kitchen Pots

Found via Bohemian Hellhole

These planters were for sale somewhere in Seattle at the weekend, nice idea,

reminds me a bit of our own Aloes in mugs

Arum italicum Pictum

"This beautiful and interesting herbaceous foliage plant turns the normal seasons of the year upside down. The exciting leaves start to unfold in autumn, and grow larger all through the winter and spring, reaching as much as a foot in length. They are shaped like an arrowhead, dark green heavily marbled with very pale green, and waved at the edges. The pale green flowers, which are short and inconspicuous, consist of a spike cloaked in a spathe (a large enfolding bract) like those of the wild arum, lords and ladies, of the hedgerows. By mid-summer, flowers and leaves have disappeared underground, but in early autumn, spikes of bright red, poisonous berries shoot up like danger signals before the leaf cycle starts afresh."

(Extract from The Best Plants for Your Garden by Anne Scott-James)

Although not a flower this is our Today's Flowers post, I'm sure you'll agree that the berries are stunning.