First of all, sit some where cool with no draughts. Close your eyes make sure your perfectly relaxed. You hear the music sound of quiet water running in the background. In your minds eye let me walk with you and lead you through into the secret garden with all its splendour. Imagine your quietly walking down a pathway of an Old English Country Garden. On either side of the centre path are tall posts with chains erected ten-twelve feet above the ground. Each post is covered in delicate fragrant roses growing up and along chains and covering it in pink and white blossoms. The perfume fills the air on a warm summer evening. These tall posts with high cross wrought iron chains of flowers form large window curtains, taking your eye to another place somewhere on the other side of the garden.
Drifts of colours blend into one another, small bush roses of delicate shades of pinks .Hibiscus with a dash of blue giving a splash of colour. Every now and then a touch of white as though a paint brush has slipped. Nicotiana and small annuals fill in the gaps at the front of the borders and Alchemilla mollis edges the path with its green-yellow florets delicately draping the pathways straight lines. Looking toward the rear of the borders stand, deep blue shades of Delphinium's and white Eremurus with its tall spikes. Behind the Delphiniums and to the centre of each window stands in its splendour the Cynara cardunculus (Artichoke thistle) with its large grey-silver sharp pointed foliage and its reddish colour artichoke shaped flower heads, standing 240cm high and 90cms wide positioned within the window of the rose chain.
The pathway leads to an arbour with three other pathways leading into and from it. The arbour is made of iron and is covered with white and pale pink Clematis, delicately covering the top and cascading down. Small deep pink spray roses grow up the outside of the arbour close to the border. Sweet peas growing close by and your senses are teased with the delightful scents in the evening air.
I do like a bouquet to reflect the garden and looking as though the flowers were picked earlier from the garden and have been sitting in a cool room waiting to be dressed, conditioned and the foliage prepared for the arrangements.Unfortunately however although gardens have beautiful flowers throughout the seasons, commercially due to need of flowers on demand we are forced to source our materials from further afield. Originally certain flowers were unavailable if they were out of season. However now due to the English, Dutch, Colombia, Ecuador and many other countries, florists can now provide roses and many other flowers almost all year round.
