Now that's an Iris!!

 

My mother is an exceptionally good gardener and her garden is a wonder to behold. Whilst I feel that I have definitely inherited her love of gardening, I just haven't managed to really achieve great things in this area of my life yet.

Having flowers inside is something I really love and something that always makes me feel very settled but I always struggle to justify spending money on cut flowers. So, with that in mind I put several packets of flower seeds into the front garden a few months ago in the hope that I could have my own blooms to cut. Delphiniums, red poppies and blue love in the mist were going to adorn my vases for months........ Lack of attention, failure to diligently water....possible lack of green thumb.....who knows why but I haven't seen any sign of those seeds.

What I do have are these beauties in abundance. Mum gave me a whole bucket full of her iris bulbs a couple of years ago and I didn't have a lot of success with them last year but this spring they are blooming everywhere. The burgundy ones are dominating at the moment but there are a whole lot of the lemoney cream ones coming and some stunning pale blues too.
 I argued with myself for several hours this morning about whether to leave them adorning the garden or bring some inside. In the end I couldn't resist cutting a handful to bring in and it turns out a little goes a long way with these strong characters so I have some in and some out.

Somehow having these on my buffet also provided the inspiration I needed to get my spring nature table in shape too. 

Like most of my tables it's an interesting collection of seemingly unrelated items but they all tie in to what spring is bringing us.....a boat for water play, candles and lanterns to celebrate the lengthening evenings, snowdrops and sage flowers from different parts of the garden, shells from our increasingly regular jaunts to the beach, a wreath to remind us to start planning for the Christmas season........