I FEEL IMMENSE JOY and excitement at the first signs of spring. Joy, relief and excitement.
Relief that the short, dark days are nearly over and excitement about what lies ahead. Spring arrives with its reassuring procession of colour and scent that literally wakes us up with a life-giving jolt. It’s as if someone has put the light on and turned up the volume. Birds start singing out, the days grow longer and lighter and, suddenly, there are flowers! Primroses come first, followed by a reassuring sequence of daffodils, pussy willow, forsythia, tree blossom, magnolia, tulips . . .
I haven’t always loved yellow, but the welcome arrival of primroses and daffodils followed by forsythia helps me appreciate and embrace the colour as a much longed-for sign of spring. And then there are the greens, when the trees turn from a Narnia to A Midsummer Night’s Dream palette of translucent limes that deepen as spring advances.
Simply being outside is an incredible tonic for the mind and body when spring arrives. I love nothing more than when it is suddenly warm enough to throw open the windows or sit outside in the sun for my morning cup of coffee. Being able to leave the house without a coat; watching the birds flitting about, building their nests; the spring bulbs peeking their heads above ground. With the arrival of the spring equinox and longer days, this season is a time to move forward.
Write down your first impressions of spring
There is so much to do in the garden as spring arrives. Whether you have a fully fledged garden or just a few windowsill containers, spring is the time to pay attention to all things green.
I can’t underestimate how it pays to be organized with your planting at this time of year. I’ve tried to fly by the seat of my pants many a time and it doesn’t end well! It’s also important not to be over-ambitious; stick to a few small projects at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.
In addition to the advantages of being out in the fresh air, there are so many health-giving benefits of gardening. Keen gardeners often say they feel grounded working in their soil, and with good reason – studies show that soil contains a bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae, which has been shown to act as a natural antidepressant, stimulating serotonin production that can help boost feelings of relaxation.2 Spring is the time for therapeutic weeding and seed planting. As a beginner to seed growing, try starting with something simple like sweet peas or sunflowers. It’s hard to believe how little effort it takes to produce these sky-scraping sunflowers and sweet-scented, blousy blooms.
As a florist, I’m embarrassed that sowing seeds is still a relatively new thing to me. I did it for the first time last year and was instantly hooked. I can’t get over the magic of growing something from (basically) nothing, then out of the blue having hundreds of new babies to love and nurture and share. You can sow seeds all year round – each flower and vegetable likes to be sown at different times – but I think of spring as my seed-sowing time.
I start them off inside and then move them outside when it’s warmer. Invariably you have too many to plant out, so at this point, you can also share the seedlings with other people. It’s good to acclimatize seedlings gently to being outside – a process known as ‘hardening off’, which means keeping them inside at night until all threat of frost is over, then letting them enjoy daytime warmth and sun. It is devastating to discover your seeds have shrivelled. Plants have a handy habit of catching up with their growing schedules once the weather gets warmer, so there is never any gain by being an eager beaver and planting out too soon.
I’ve just finished off my sowing for this season and am already hovering over them like a stalker, desperate for them to start sprouting. Five minutes is a little too early for any sign of life but cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Purity’), for example, can start to show itself in as little as three days. Some, however, can take much longer – up to a month – so don’t worry or give up if they don’t appear immediately.
For flowers, I love lots of:
Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) – great for beginners
Californian poppies (Eschscholzia californica) and Iceland poppies (Papaver nudicuale)
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), ‘Persian jewels’
Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), ‘Purity’ and ‘Sensation’
Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus)
Bullwort (Ammi Majus) ‘Graceland’
Lime green tobacco plants (Nicotiana alata)
For foliage, I love:
Honeywort (Cerinthe major) ‘Purpurascens’
Oblong spurge (Euphorbia oblongata)
Bells of Ireland (Mollucella laevis)
Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla Mollis)
Dill (Anethum graveolens)
Seed trays or pots
Seed compost
Seeds
Polythene bag, pane of glass or propagator (a propagator sounds like a luxury, but I promise you it is the most rewarding investment)
Labels (it is ridiculously easy to forget what’s what when the seedlings emerge – I use wooden lolly sticks)
Plant pots (for when seedlings are ready to be separated out)
Tin (to store your unused seeds and keep them dry for next year)
1. Fill small pots or seed trays with seed compost. Lightly water it.
2. Depending on the variety, some seeds need to be poked gently into little holes in the compost; others, like cosmos, rest on the surface. For seeds that need holes, use your finger or a pencil to make the holes to the right depth for your seeds – see your seed packet for specific details.
3. It helps to pour the seeds first into one hand and then allocate them with the fingers of your other hand, either poking them in or scattering.
4. Cover the seeds with a little more compost and dampen them very gently. No flooding, please!
5. If you’re sowing into pots, you can encourage germination by putting a clear polythene bag over the pot, made airtight with an elastic band or string. Snip some tiny ventilation holes into the bag and remove it as soon as there are signs of life. If you are using a seed tray, growth can be speeded up by putting a pane of clean, clear glass over the surface to create a mini greenhouse. If you’re using a propagator, place the tray inside and close the lid and when your seeds appear turn off the heat source, otherwise they grow too fast and become too spindly. Check your pots regularly for signs of life. Different seeds germinate at different times and some can take up to 21 days. Make sure the soil is damp but never saturated.
6. Remove the cover as soon as the seedlings emerge, and grow them indoors on a cool, non-draughty windowsill, away from direct sunlight.
7. When they are at least 2.5cm (1in) tall, and there is a good root structure, transfer them into individual bigger pots so they can bulk up. A simple way to check if they are ready is to tip the pot upside down into the palm of your hand and if you see a good root system, then it’s time to separate the seedlings into individual pots.
TIPS 
If you’re planning to plant the seedlings in the garden, beware of doing it too soon. After all that effort, nothing is more depressing than seeing your precious seedlings struggle with the elements.
It is far better to be patient, hang on until they are a good size – bursting to escape their pots – and they will thank you for it by thriving.
Each seed has its own idiosyncrasies, so make sure you follow the instructions on the seed packet.
Use this space to record your seedling planting or ideas for next year
Yesterday was a bad day. It was beautiful and sunny – usually a guaranteed recipe to make me smile. But I woke up feeling flat, like someone was sitting on me. My limbs felt like they were made of lead. The thought of getting in my enormous van to take the boys to school was almost too much to bear. Their usual jokes and laughing cut through me like a knife. The effort not to yell and beg for silence felt monumental and I spent the rest of the day pretending to concentrate, trying to work on upcoming flower orders. In actual fact, I was staring into space, panicking that I was never going to feel normal again. Longing to go to bed and not have to talk to anyone. Where had this feeling come from? I was fine the day before.
It’s only now, with hindsight when I’m feeling normal again, that I can see how I drove myself into this particular hole. In the weeks running up to it, work had been incessant. There’d been zero let-up; no me time. No time for friends or daily walks. Simply non-stop head in a laptop, deadline after deadline, trying to meet people’s demands. And then Charlie was taken down by a killer migraine and spent two days in bed. The silver lining to this meant I could work until midnight, guilt free, but the not-so-good part meant I had no one to make me stop or to help with the boys. Or to notice the all-consuming feelings of panic that were beginning to take over. I should have given myself a break, allowed myself to step outside and admire the tulips growing in the garden like I wanted to. But I forced myself to keep going instead. So yesterday, my mind and body just gave up. Enough was enough, I quite simply couldn’t cope anymore.
This morning, I dragged myself out of the house to take the boys to school and was stopped in my tracks by the deliciously sweet-smelling, cool spring air. I was instantly transported to longer, lighter, warmer days, and felt there was light at the end of the tunnel. I made the decision to spend the rest of the day in the garden, pottering and just letting myself be. And slowly but surely, by the end of the day, the fog began to lift, and I felt myself beginning to reappear.
Evolutionary psychologist Professor Jonathan Rottenberg writes about ‘attending to the sources that bring so many into low mood states – think routines that feature too much work and too little sleep’.3 He goes on to talk about how we need to be more aware of the tools that we have in our arsenal to help us break up or disrupt low moods before they have a chance to morph into much longer and more severe ones. The tools he talks about include changing how we think, paying attention to what’s going on around us, our relationships and the conditions of our bodies (in terms of exercise, medication and/or diet).
What I learnt from this little episode:
1. If we push ourselves too far, we will break. It is not indulgent to let yourself have a break. It’s a necessity. We need time out even more than normal when life is busy and full on. Even if it’s just sitting outside with your face in the sun for ten minutes, having a cup of tea on the sofa or simply focusing on your breathing, make time for it – think of it as maintenance.
2. If you crash, you need to stop and build yourself up again. Understand that by carrying on, you’re just going to do more damage. Be kind to yourself. Sleep. Don’t put yourself under any pressure. Put down the technology and let your pre-frontal cortex recover. Go for a walk. Turn your face to the sunlight and try and think of something you love – going on holiday/swimming in the sea/walking in the woods.
3. Spend time with people with whom you can be yourself. As much as you probably want to be alone, isolation feeds low moods.
4. Go outside and just be. Look up at the clouds. Listen to the birds. Observe all the different green tones. How many can you count?
• Unbroken sleep. Preferably 8 hours a night.
• Chatting to a friend once a day – even if only for two minutes.
• Eating three proper meals each day.
• Eating well. Junk and too much sugar make me feel rubbish.
• A daily walk or being outside for at least half an hour.
• Doing something creative – it could be writing something, flower arranging or gardening.
• Spending time with my family.
It might be reading for half an hour a day, a daily trip to the gym, having a massage, seeing your friends for cocktails, making time to craft something, going to bed early, sitting in the garden for half an hour . . .
Make a note of the tools here to remind yourself
Blossom heralds the start of spring. The days are warming up, getting lighter and longer, pinker and fluffier. In the UK, the season all kicks off at the end of February, when the blackthorn blossoms make the first appearance of the season in the blossom schedule. The delicate whites of pear, damson and plum blossoms come next in March, followed by a multitude of pinks from the many cherry varieties in April and May.
Cherry blossom is the national flower of Japan. As well as being a symbol of spring, it stands for the beauty and the transience of life. I would love to go to Japan during the cherry blossom season, known as Sakura. Although I can barely contain myself walking through British parks when the blossom is out, so perhaps seeing the real deal might be too much to cope with.
Hanami (which translates as ‘flower viewing’) has been a tradition in Japan since the eighth century. During hanami, crowds congregate below the blossom to eat and drink and to celebrate the flowers. Modern day hanami can be slightly more raucous than it used to be, and often involves a lot of parties being thrown at night beneath blossoms lit up with paper lanterns. These events are known as yozakura. Each year in Japan there is a cherry blossom ‘forecast’ telling blossom hunters exactly where and when the flowers will be at their peak throughout the country.
Why not create your own hanami? Organize a get-together with your friends, take a picnic and meet under your nearest cluster of blossom trees to celebrate spring.
Try and see how many different types of blossom you can spot. There are 323 types recorded in the UK alone. Which is your favourite?
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air pollution is one the five biggest environmental health risks. It can cause dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, coughing and sneezing, as well as more worrying long-term effects like cancer, heart disease and respiratory diseases.4 Indoor air can be up to five times as polluted as outdoor air, which is pretty alarming considering most people spend 90 per cent of their time inside.5 As well as the usual everyday air pollutants in the house that we need to be aware of (pollen, smoke, dust), there are also those we introduce in the form of adhesives, wall paint, carpeting, cleaning products and pesticides.
• Use eco-friendly cleaning products or, even better, make your own (see here).
• Buy an air purifier – ideally one with a good clean-air delivery rate.
• Stay clear of scented candles that have been made with chemicals. Look for ones free of petroleum by-products. Choose beeswax, vegetable and soy candles to go chemical free.
• Open your windows and doors for 10–15 minutes daily, unless you live on a motorway or an area of high road traffic.
• Use your extractor fan while cooking.
• Use eco-friendly wall paint. More and more companies are developing eco lines. Little Greene and Edward Bulmer Paints are two of my favourites.
A 1989 study conducted by NASA discovered that houseplants can absorb harmful toxins from the air.6 Plants draw air pollutants in through their leaves as part of their normal respiration process. The pollutants are then deposited in their soil, where they are broken down by micro-organisms.
While plants are less powerful than air purifiers, they’re more natural, cost-effective and therapeutic. Filling your home and office with plants will also maintain humidity levels, which stops the air inside getting too dry. Dry indoor air is responsible for more damage than you might think. It can cause respiratory problems; when the membranes in our upper respiratory system dry out, their ability to fight off bacteria and illness is dramatically reduced, increasing our risk of illness. Dry static air causes electric shocks and dry, itchy skin conditions like eczema and acne. It can even damage wooden furniture and musical instruments, as dry air will take moisture from wherever it can!7
Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii)
Variegated snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) ‘Laurentii’
Aloe vera ‘Barbados’ (Aloe barbadensis)
Common English ivy (Hedera helix)
Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)
Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × morifolium)
Peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii)
A planted arrangement is always at the top of my present giving list. You can’t beat a huge basket of spring flowers on your kitchen table. The joy of working with bulbs is a) they last for much longer than cut flowers and b) you can plant them outside and they will come back next year. For this project I recommend using what I call bulbets (these are bulbs that have started shooting already, usually sold in pots).
Paper-white daffodils (Narcissus papyraceus) are always my favourites, purely for their scent. I have a line of terracotta pots with a mix of paper whites and grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) sitting in front me as I write; the smell is so deliciously uplifting.
When it comes to working out the quantity of bulblets you’ll need, first work out how many plants will fit the size of basket you’ve chosen. Take the basket to the garden centre so you can work out quantities.
A shallow wicker basket lined with a waterproof liner (ideally at least around 12cm (5in) deep. I love huge round ones, but long narrow ones also look fab running down a table like train carriages)
Gravel or small stones for drainage
Bulblets – my top choices are grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) ‘Valerie Finnis’, hellebores (Helleborus niger) and snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)
Soil
Sphagnum moss
1. Sprinkle a generous layer of the gravel or stones to cover the bottom of the basket. This will act as drainage. The larger the pot, the more gravel/stones you can add.
2. Take the bulblets out of their pots and arrange them how you want them in the basket. If they are in blocky lumps from their containers, break them up into individual portions. If you’re mixing varieties, I like to have the tallest ones in the middle with the shorter ones surrounding them. They can be packed in quite tightly, so they are touching but try not to overlap the bulbs. Add more soil if you need it.
3. Add a thin layer of moss on top of the soil – this acts purely as decoration.
4. Water the bulbs every couple of days. They should flower and last for at least a couple of weeks. Keep them in a cool, light space, out of direct sunlight.
5. Once they have flowered, let the foliage die back. Then you can remove the brown foliage by gently pulling it away from the bulbs, store them somewhere dry and plant them out in the garden in the autumn (see here).
If you’re planting narcissi, stake some twigs into the soil, they will act as a support when they get taller and more wayward. I love natural hazel.
Singing is definitely one of my favourite ways to de-stress. Singing, out loud, at the top of my voice, preferably to something I know every single word to. In Japan, karaoke is huge. They use singing as a stress-reliever – they have bars in the city centres that open at 11am. My husband Charlie lived there for a while and couldn’t get over seeing immaculate businessmen nipping off in their lunch breaks for a quick sing, then heading back to work half an hour later.
Singing releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in the brain. Because we need to deep-breathe while we sing, we draw more oxygen into the blood, which causes better circulation; so it’s also an aerobic activity as well as a natural stress-reducer.8
I am terrible at singing, which was devastating for years as all I ever wanted to do was be in a girl band. But I don’t let it stop me – I still fling myself around the kitchen most days, singing (screeching) at the top of my lungs, TV remote as my microphone to whichever track my Spotify playlist has chosen.
For me, the best place to sing is in the car. There’s nothing better on those early spring mornings when I’ve dropped the boys at school and have the car to myself. The sun has come out, the birds are swooping around, the buds on the trees are opening and you’re filled with excited anticipation about the longer, lighter days ahead. Whizzing along, windows down, the car filled with fresh spring air, tunes blaring out, hair everywhere is an instant endorphin rush.
Write down your favourite singalong songs
Most people I know love flowers. They will buy them whenever they can and have them at home to enjoy, but they often give little thought to how they will keep them. The vase is always an after-thought, and more often than not, the poor flowers end up jammed into a hideous old pint glass they brought home from the pub ‘by accident’ one night.
Hunting for vases to add to my collection is one of my favourite things to do. I love how they can crop up anywhere, usually when you’re least expecting it. Whether it is antique shops, charity shops, eBay, Etsy, car boot sales: I am always on the lookout. The kitchen section of charity shops is a great place to start. As far as I’m concerned, you can use anything with a hole in the top (see ideas below). Even if things aren’t in great condition and leaking, all you need to do is slot something inside to hold the water. Plastic bottles cut down and yoghurt pots are great for this and come in so many sizes. For larger containers, you can use buckets.
Make sure your vases are very clean. Dirty vases will encourage bacteria to breed, which shortens the life of your flowers. Use sterilizing tablets or put them in the dishwasher for the best results (check your vase is dishwasher-safe first) – washing-up liquid isn’t a good option, as it often leaves a greasy film behind.
When you have a very wide, open-mouthed container – like a bowl, for example – scrunch up a ball of chicken wire, place it in the bowl and secure with two strips of floristry ‘pot tape’. This will give you a brilliant structure to poke the stems into and build the arrangement.
TIP
As a general rule, the height of your flowers should be 1.5 times the height of your vases. Keep this is mind when you’re choosing flowers and hunting for vases.
When you’re buying flowers, try as much as possible to buy seasonally and locally. Flowers bought from a local farmers’ markets or local growers will always have more character and beauty than the ones that have been grown en masse, like robots. They also haven’t been flown hundreds of miles across the world to get to you, which means a) they will last longer and b) it’s better for the planet.
| Footed bowls | Vintage mustard pots |
| Ceramic pitchers and jugs | Shells |
| Enamel spice tins | Teapots |
| Vintage marmalade pots | Milk bottles |
| Wooden crates | Olive oil cans |
| Science beakers | Pretty old watering cans |
| Jelly/gelatine moulds | Colanders |
| Baskets | Empty glass bath-oil bottles |
| Scooped-out cabbages and pumpkins | Milk churns |
You could even use empty tin cans and paint them after removing the paper labels, or re-wrap them in another design you love.
Most of my life is spent rushing and trying to do a million things at once and rarely focusing on or enjoying what I’m actually doing at the time. I got home last night and was horrified when I realized that I had been so busy rushing about that I’d missed lots of my favourite plants beginning to poke out of the ground for the first time (a highlight in my spring calendar). Like many, I’m always multi-tasking: cooking dinner at the same time as doing an online food shop, while helping with homework, while thinking about what flowers I need to order, while pretending that I’m totally present and paying everyone proper attention. The problem with constant multi-tasking is that it’s utterly exhausting and if you don’t give yourself a break, it leads to burn-out and stress.
My New Year’s resolution this year was to be more present. And to do this, I planned to start practising mindfulness. For a long time, I thought mindfulness was the same thing as meditation: something I’ve tried a few times and failed at terribly. I can’t seem to switch my mind off for more than five minutes. However, they’re not the same thing – phew – and mindfulness is easy and something that everyone can do.
The thought behind it is that by focusing our attention on the present moment, getting out of our own heads, we won’t have time to worry. By reducing worrying and rumination, we help towards reducing anxiety and depression too, and start to feel happier and less stressed. It’s about taking the time to actually enjoy the world around us and take in what’s going on in that very second – noticing things you may have been too busy to notice – the greenness of the grass, the stickiness of the buds on the trees, the crunchiness of your cereal, the sweetness of an apple. The aim is to reconnect our bodies with the sensations they experience, and to make us acknowledge the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment.
Some ideas for trying mindfulness are listed below.
• Breathe. Try the 3, 4, 5 method: breathe in for three counts, hold for four and exhale for five.
• Do one thing at a time. When you’re talking on the phone, just talk.
• Focus on your senses. Notice two things you can taste, smell, feel, see and hear right now.
• Eat mindfully. Turn off all distractions while you eat – TV, radio, phones, laptops – and focus on the textures, flavours and temperatures of what you are eating.
• Be aware of your surroundings. Feel your feet connecting with the ground. Feel the sun or the breeze on your face. Look at the shape of the clouds, the shape of the trees.
• Notice colours. What is the colour of the sky at sunrise and sunset? Choose a colour and find ten things around you in this colour. Play this game on your commute to work: find ten yellow things one day, then ten pink things, then orange. Or work your way through the colour wheel . . . red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
LILY OF THE VALLEY
Convallaria majalis
One of my favourite memories of living in France was seeing roadside stalls selling lily of the valley (or muguet de bois) springing up in the days before Labour Day on 1 May.
This enchanting tradition of giving lily of the valley to loved ones on 1 May is thought to have begun in 1561, when a knight presented King Charles IX with a bunch as a symbol of luck and prosperity. The King is said to have loved the idea so much he began the custom of presenting a bouquet of lily of the valley to every lady at court on May Day.
The tradition has carried on ever since and in the week running up to the national holiday, people buy posies and plants for their friends and loved ones all over France as a token of friendship and to celebrate the arrival of spring.
I recently found out that lily of the valley was Christian Dior’s favourite flower – and this has made me love the spray even more. Dior often wore a spray of it in his buttonhole and asked his tailors to sew a few sprigs of the flower into the hems of his dress designs for good luck.
Much to my joy, I’ve noticed that in recent years, these delicate, sweet-smelling beauties are becoming much more readily available in the UK. Inspired by our time in France, I love to throw a special family lunch around this time and decorate the table with an extravagance of lily of the valley in clear glass vases. The scent is intoxicating. Place a couple of stems in a little bud vase by your bed – there’s nothing better than waking up to the scent of spring.
Giving flowers doesn’t have to be expensive – giving just a couple of stems is more than enough to make someone’s day. It really is the thought that counts.
‘If a medication existed which had a similar effect [to physical activity,] it would be regarded as a “wonder drug” or a “miracle cure”.’
SIR LIAM DONALDSON
(ENGLAND’S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, 2009)9
A lot of my friends love yoga, some run, a few box. I walk. Walking is my thing and I go out come rain or shine. I use it as my time out – a time to breathe and reconnect with myself. When everything feels too much, I use walking as a medicine. Being active releases endorphins, our happy hormones. Half an hour outside, being physically active, also gives the brain something different to focus on. I also walk when I’m feeling good and use it as a time to think, plan and daydream, and come home feeling calm and uplifted. I don’t always walk alone either: I find I have the best conversations with friends and family on walks – there’s something liberating about not being face to face that makes us more receptive and open-minded. My favourite way to catch up with friends, rather than meeting for a coffee is to go for a walk together.
Some days I go out walking for hours, other days when time is tight or I can’t face it, it might be only for ten minutes. According to psychologists who study how exercise relieves anxiety and depression, a ten-minute walk may be just as good as a forty-five-minute workout.10
The joy of walking is that (pretty much) anyone can do it. You don’t need Olympian fitness levels. You don’t need a gym membership. It’s safe, with a low risk of injuries and accidents. Unlike exercise classes, you can fit it into everyday life. There are no timetables to keep to and it doesn’t require concentration, so you switch off, relax and enjoy your surroundings.
Get off the bus or train one stop early and walk the rest of the way to work or home.
If you can, take meetings outside. Barack Obama was well known for his walking meetings.
Form a walking group. Loneliness does not like company. Sociable activities can help improve mental health and overcome feelings of isolation.
Invest in a pedometer – a brilliantly motivational piece of kit that measures how many steps you take each day. 10,000 steps is a good target to start with. I get very competitive with myself and always try to beat my highest score.
If walking feels like a chore at first, listen to music or a podcast as a means of distraction.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed at your desk, take a ten-minute break and walk round the block to clear your head and get a change of scenery.
Encourage your children to walk with you; make it fun, turn it into a treasure hunt, look for conkers/funny-coloured leaves/feathers.
Invest in some comfortable trainers.
Offer to walk a neighbour’s dog. Not only will you be helping them out, but research has shown that playing with or petting a dog increases the levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin in your brain, as well as lowering the production of cortisol, our stress hormone.
Use this space to record your favourite walks of the season
Seeing the first buds appear on the trees in spring is a beacon moment. It’s a turning point in the season, bringing new beginnings and new growth, and a reassuring sign of nature’s irrepressible cycle.
A huge vase filled with branches of sticky, barely open buds is a flower arranger’s dream. It’s such an easy way to create the most beautiful, natural, living arrangement. Collect branches and bring them inside as buds, then add them to a vase with plenty of water and watch them open up and transform into leafy branches. Some spring branches won’t flourish or even sprout leaves if you pick them this early on in their lives, but beech, sycamore and horse chestnut are the best contenders. Keep them just as they are – there’s no need for any accompanying flowers.
Make sure the vase is clean and you regularly check on the water levels.
Always seek permission before cutting branches down.
For about a year of his life, the only thing our smallest son would eat was ‘pesto pasta’. For breakfast, lunch and supper – just huge bowls of pasta. He now, unsurprisingly, won’t touch it with a barge pole. We would spend hours trying to find clever ways of adding in extra vegetables and herbs without him realizing – desperate to convince him to try something else. The only time we ever got away with going slightly off piste was after discovering a bumper crop of wild garlic in the woods next to our house. We whipped it into a different type of pesto without him noticing. We were thrilled with our small victory, mostly because of the goodness that he’d swallowed. Wild garlic is seriously good for us – full of vitamin C, vision-boosting vitamin A, copper to protect the immune system and phosphorus to give us energy. It’s also a natural antibiotic, has antibacterial and possibly antiviral properties and is known to lower blood pressure.
When I caught sight of my first woodland wild garlic carpet through the car window, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven and found myself a private lily of the valley forest. That was until I got out of the car and was knocked sideways by the mind-altering blast of garlic and realized what it was. They look very similar but smell very different! Growing side by side with bluebells and white anemones, April is usually the time when wild garlic grows in abundance in hedgerows and woodlands. Take a large basket and fill it to the top – try and go as soon as you first spot it, as the leaves are at their sweetest before the white flowers arrive and they get slightly bitter and a bit tough later on in season. If you live in the city, head to your nearest local farmers’ market to get your hands on some.
Makes 4 servings
100g wild garlic leaves, thoroughly washed
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
1–2 tablespoons olive oil
50g toasted pine nuts
lemon juice and salt and pepper, to taste
1. Place the wild garlic leaves, Parmesan, olive oil and pine nuts in a food processor and blitz. Add more oil if you prefer a thinner texture, and mix again.
2. Stir through the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. It will last up to a week covered in the fridge.
I love to stir it through a steaming bowl of spaghetti and add handfuls of extra Parmesan.
Write down your favourite seasonal recipe ideas
I don’t feel that I’m exaggerating when I say that having a windowsill filled with healthy herbs can be life-enhancing. We’ve just replanted the pots of herbs in our kitchen at home and every time I walk in, I’m met with a gorgeous, green explosion of health that reminds me to breathe.
Aesthetically speaking, herbs are beautiful as well as aromatic, but most importantly, they’re a brilliant and delicious way of adding nutrients and vitamins into our diets. They’re packed with polyphenols – plant compounds with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Research shows that that these herby compounds can help improve symptoms of diseases, including Alzheimer’s and diabetes.11 The aromatic properties of herbs are a vital part of their healing magic. Rubbing the leaves releases their essential oils, which are beneficial in a holistic way.
For centuries, the medicinal properties of herbs have been known about and used for tinctures and medicines; today they’re increasingly used to add flavour in cooking. If space allows, it is wonderful having an outdoor patch of herbs, but the benefits of having them inside the kitchen is that they are so close to hand that we’re more likely to use them – tossing them into salads, curries, teas and smoothies on a daily basis. Herb plants are super-easy to look after and are a great way of getting children into gardening. Our eldest is nine and is so proud of his little basil plant, taking huge care and pride in nurturing his pot. As long as you give them enough light, water and good drainage, they’ll thrive pretty much anywhere, but a south-facing spot is ideal. The biggest killer of herbs is overwatering, so make sure you have good drainage as they hate sitting in pools of water. To make your own drainage, use ‘crocks’ (broken up terracotta pots) or gravel to line your containers. Buy your herbs from a garden centre rather than a supermarket as they will last a lot longer.
Basil, chives, mint, parsley, oregano, thyme, verbena, valerian and sage.
Herbs freeze really well so if you have an abundance, put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. You can use them straight from frozen.
Try a few leaves of valerian in a mug of boiling water before you go to bed for a dreamy night’s sleep. Some experts say it is best avoided in pregnancy.
Add a sprig of rosemary to boiling water to make a tea – it is said to soothe an upset stomach and help you feel more alert. As above, some experts say it is best avoided in pregnancy.
Bicycling conjures up such happy memories for me. Our childhood summers were spent on Tresco in the Scilly Isles, a mile-long island off the coast of Cornwall. There are no cars and the only way to get around is to walk or hire a bike. This form of exercise ticks two of my wellbeing boxes – exercise and being outdoors – putting it high on my favourite exercise list. Chuck in some friends for the ride and you get the hat trick!
I’m not talking Lance Armstrong, Tour de France-style cycling. I do love a spot of spandex but not on my bike! I love a relaxed pedal bike that you don’t need to be strapped on to – an easy, breezy ride to take in the sights.
• It’s quicker than walking.
• It’s better for the environment. Cycling 10km every day to work (instead of driving) can prevent the emission of at least 1.3 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.12
• It’s a wonderful way of combining exercise with being outside.
• Cycling helps to clear your mind. I do my best thinking when whizzing down hills.
• It’s a complete form of exercise: it is strengthening, raises your heart rate, gets the blood pumping round your body and burns calories and releases endorphins to boost our mood.
• It’s gentle on your body, making it a suitable exercise for all ages.
• It’s a great family activity. Research has noticed a big improvement in children’s bone and muscle health after regular cycling sessions.
• It’s fun. We spend a lot of time on holiday being a bit competitive – racing to a landmark or springing out of the bushes after hiding our bikes. (Cycling definitely brings out the inner child in all of us!)
• Lots of large cities have public bike-hire schemes, which are a brilliant and affordable way of discovering a new place. And the appetite you work up means a completely justifiable ice cream en route.
International Women’s Day is, as it sounds, a day for celebrating women. On 8 March, people all over the world spend the day acknowledging women’s biggest achievements as well as raising awareness of the gender inequality that still exists. In some places, it’s a day of protest, while in other parts of the world, it’s a less controversial celebration of womanhood.
The first Women’s Day was marked in 1909 in New York, and it swiftly became an annual fixture to help recognize the social and political struggles faced by women. As well as addressing the political agenda, it’s a day to show women how much we love and respect them, be it your mother, friend, sister, teacher, doctor. As a sign of this love and appreciation, the tradition is to give a bunch of bright yellow mimosa flowers (Acacia dealbata).
The custom of giving mimosa flowers can be traced back to Italy to around 1946, where International Women’s Day is more commonly known as Festa della Donna. The flowers were intended to be presented as symbolic tokens of respect and appreciation, and all over the country on this day, mimosa flowers are given as a token to women by women, from men to women, mothers to daughters, colleague to colleague. Mimosa flowers were chosen for the fact that a) there’s not much else in flower at that time of year and b) it’s a strong, naturally growing, resilient plant that can weather tough conditions – just like women.
This 8 March, seek out some of the frothy yellow blooms from your local florist and make someone’s day. Give her a beautiful bunch of mimosa to show her how much she means to you. Not only will you make her feel special and loved, but the act of giving is proven to make us happier and more joyful. It’s a win-win.
Who will you celebrate on International Women’s Day?
BLUEBELLS
Hyacinthoides
One of my favourite, most idyllic childhood memories is of spring days spent in bluebell-carpeted woods near a friend’s house in the Cotswolds. There was a group of us: four or five families who would get together every year and spend the day outside. We children would be running wild in the woods, making dens to eat our Marmite sandwiches in, playing hide-and-seek and anointing the most placid sibling with a bluebell crown, then collapsing into hammocks strung between the beech trees.
The light in the woods at this time of year is always magical too. The Granny Smith-green of young beech leaves seems to anticipate the coming summer. While the leaves are new and semi-unfurled, their sparseness lets dappled sunlight act as spotlights on the blue carpet below – so every walk through a bluebell wood cries out for a photograph.
Bluebells grow from North America to North Africa but half of the world’s population of bluebells are found in the UK, so towards the end of the spring, in April and May, huge swathes of the countryside are carpeted in these woodland bulbs. Find out about the bluebell woods closest to you, and on a fine day make a picnic, grab some rugs and take your friends and family for a therapeutic day out. Even if it is dreary weather it is worth an outing because bluebell scent seems stronger after rain.
Thirty years on, picnicking in the bluebells is still one of the highlights of my year. I would strongly advise visiting the woods for some time out.
Last night, I left the boys watering the vegetables with Charlie and ambled down the lane in the evening sunshine to the woods about a mile from our house. I stood still and breathed. Absorbing the green, the vibrant blue, the dappled light, the energy. Listening to the birds chirping away. I came home feeling magically renewed, nourished and invigorated. Even in the city, you’re always closer than you think to woodlands and green spaces. Take time to look up where your nearest bluebell wood is.
Another peace-inducing activity is to take a sketchbook, sit on a log and draw. Draw the bluebells, the trees or even a passing bird. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece – I’m terrible at drawing – but there’s just something very cathartic and unpressured about putting pen to paper while being outside.
The earliest British botanists called bluebells Crowtoes, but they’ve also been called Cuckoo’s Boots, Wood Hyacinth, Lady’s Nightcap and Witches’ Thimbles.
There is fascinating mythology surrounding bluebells. According to legend, if you pick a bluebell, you will be led astray by fairies, wandering lost forever. In the language of flowers, the bluebell is a symbol of humility, constancy, gratitude and everlasting love. It is said that if you wear a wreath of bluebells you will never be able to lie again, and if you turn a bluebell flower inside out without tearing it, you will find love.
Use this space to record your seasonal reflections
