The sight of bluebells en masse is frequently described as a sea, a blanket, a sheet and a carpeting of nodding blue flowers. For me, it’s akin to a full purple haze and the bluebells appears luminous. A real assault on the senses.

Tree buds begin to swell in spring, the bud scales burst open then fall away revealing the new leaf or flower. Budburst heralds the start of green returning to our gardens and outdoor spaces.

When celandines open their lovely, sunny yellow flowers in February, they positively radiate sunshine! These very welcome, star-like flowers, contrast beautifully with their glossy green, heart-shaped leaves.

Nature’s very own combo of hearts and stars!

Most of my work as a landscape designer is concentrated on the outdoors. But during the darker months when we need to make the most of our moments inside, it’s great to bring the outdoors in and focus on the small details.

I’m never ready for winter’s harsher rhythms, the encroaching dark and the loss of colour outdoors and I’ve an adversion to slippery mud and damp! But I know when a fight is futile! So, I am trying to embrace the unique magic of this colder, darker time of year.

Noticing the elements of the seasonal shift into autumn helps me adjust to the incoming winter months.  Nature journaling is a great way to process these seasonal changes. Read more of my nature journaling tips and learn about my creative inspired nature workshops, which you can join.

How do we decide which plants are weeds and which are garden flowers? Are all wildflowers weeds or is there a defining difference? Who decides their fate? Is it time to look at the value of all plants including the weeds?

Summer evenings are meant to be whiled away outdoors. When days are long and the weather remains kind, it‘s joyful to enjoy time outside as the evening light dwindles. Here’s how to inject some after hours magic into your outdoor space.

Glorious June. The start of Summer. Long drawn out days, short nights and a joyful easy living feel to life. The new fresh colours of spring expand to the rainbow hues of summer and dreams of sun drenched, flower filled gardens and lazy evenings lingering outdoors, come to fruition.

Letting our lawns, grow freely really gives nature a boost. Any break from routine mowing boosts floral diversity, with those flowering plants providing food for bees, butterflies and pollinators and the birds and animals who eat them.  May is a crucial month for this and leaving those ordinary ‘weeds’ to their own devices provides vital nectar and pollen.

Your garden, or outdoor space can be great for you and for the natural world you share it with. You can have a beautiful, relaxing and interesting garden that’s also valuable to wildlife, pollinators, birds, amphibians and even mammals. Your garden will be so much more interesting and enjoyable as a result!

In March we step fully into Spring. It is a lighter brighter month often accompanied with blustery winds which make it feel like Spring is rushing in and clearing out the winter cobwebs.  It’s the month when the green returns outdoors.

February is a month of push and pull between winter and early spring. The weather might still be ropey but what cannot be denied is the lengthening of the days. There’s a shift. The light begins to gather and the rising energy produces exciting, new growth. It’s that renewing energy that gives this time of year the term, The Quickening.

The quieter, short days of winter often drag and January can seem very long. Outdoors the natural world has surrendered to the cold and dark and life has retreated to the relative warmth underground. We have to look harder for the uplifting glimmers. The things that bring joy and optimism.

For centuries people have brought evergreens inside during the darkest days of winter and every year we incorporate evergreen plants into our Christmas celebrations, almost without thinking about it. It’s a tradition that dates to our pagan past when our ancestors revered evergreen plants.

Whatever the weather, there's still joy to be found in November.  It’s a month for taking our lead from nature and turning more inwards. For still getting outdoors when the hours are light and the weather allows; then retreating indoors, to embrace the concept of hygge. In fact, November offers the perfect excuse for lashings of hot tea, cake and buttery crumpets in front of the fire and TV!

Since passing the Equinox at the end of last month, there can be no denying that we’re firmly in Autumn.  It’s evident in the landscape, the trees and the plants, the changing colours and weather. Outdoors it’s slowly starting to turn amber, auburn, scarlet and sepia

There’s a blending of the seasons in September. If we’re lucky, we head into this lovely month still basking in the warmth and glory of Late Summer then by the last week or so of September our thoughts turn to Autumn.

It feels like there’s a suspension of activity in August. The mad roller coaster of life halts at the top. Things slow. It coincides with the end of the school year and the anticipation of going off-routine for a few weeks. But out in Nature there is a slowing too. The growing has stopped and now it’s all about fruiting, setting seed and harvest.

Now we’ve arrived at Midsummer, why not make the most of the light evenings and join myself and artist Jenny Muncaster on a Nature & Art Workshop.

This wonderful feel good event includes a guided nature stroll art demonstration and individual tuition to help you create your own fantastic, nature inspired, printed artwork.