I never let the fact that I don't have a garden (just three square feet of outdoor space and window ledges!) stop me from appreciating spring bulbs. Most bulbs are grown for both indoor and/or outdoor use.
Yesterday was the most glorious spring-like day and my flat was bathed in sunlight. It seems to be full of flowers and plants so I couldn't resist photographing them all and sharing them with you.
I buy most of my flowers and plants from my local florist Jayne Copperwaite Flowers. She has a fantastic selection. On Friday, I bought three stems of magnolia which is still in buds but yesterday some of the buds started to open. I used one of a pair of Chinese vases with lids as a vase for these huge stems of magnolia which I think is quite effective. I can't wait for the pink flowers to appear on the branches
Purple Crocuses and Early Cheers on the mantelpiece
A vase of gold freesias to complement the gold velvet chair
These gorgeous Blue Daisies (Felicia amelloides 'Variegata') have flowered all winter and are so pretty in this pot just outside the French door in the sitting room.
I finally put away my artificial winter tree in the hall which I had retained from Christmas because I couldn't bear to part with it.
And I replaced it with a lamp and these stunning roses that a friend and neighbour kindly gave me on Friday. They have a real vintage look about them. Aren't they beautiful?
On my Annie Sloan painted mahogany sideboard in the kitchen is a vintage jug with beautiful blue/mauve hyacinths and a white Amaryllis which has the first of three flowers about to burst open.
These bulbs on the kitchen table (in an earlier blog) are doing well after two weeks!
I am a huge fan of hydrangeas and I couldn't resist these pretty pale blue ones in my local florist. Aren't they divine?
A closer view of the hydrangeas!
Three stems of Forsythia make a splash of colour to welcome people. I've had these for three weeks and they have all flowered and now young leaf shoots have appeared. Great value in a vase!!
Given how lovely the weather was yesterday, I decided to start painting again as it's nearly a year since I last painted anything. I use Annie Sloan paint. I decided to paint a whole lot of plant pots in various shades of blue, green and mauve.
Here is the hive of activity on my kitchen table.
The colour below is one of my favourites, Florence.
Only the first coat and because it is very chalky paint, it seems dull until you add the wax.
And in typical English style, the weather has completely changed, for the worse — strong winds and rain and snow predicted all over the north of the UK and it may get as far as London. However I did manage to get a 10k jog completed before the rain started. So much for spring arriving early!