Springtime in England

Although springtime in England was cold and a bit rainy, measuring up to its' reputation as such, it was truly a wonderful time to see the Midlands and the Southern part of the Country. We traveled like typical Americans packing in as much as we could see and rarely took a break. Anytime we told the locals what our next destination was they looked at us in dismay. The English don't really travel much in their own country. It's rather curious. But after noting the price of gas and the general cost to live, I can now see why.

Natural beauty is everywhere in the Spring. The countryside felt incredibly alive and lush and held such incredible color. You could stop and take a photograph around every turn.

May is the season of bluebells and they cover the ground throughout the forest floors. I loved seeing them wild. My early years were spent among the Austin, Texas bluebells! I have a picture of myself in a lace dress and bonnet sitting in a meadow of Texas violet quite similar to the photo above (Yes, my mom did dress me in the bonnet).

"Rapeseed." Quite a peculiar and unsettling name for such a beautiful plant. But it is truly spectacular. In my attempt to find a more suitable name through Wikipedia, I am afraid I came up short. The name derives from the Latin for turnip rāpa or rāpum, and is first recorded in English at the end of the 14th century. It is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicas (the mustard or cabbage family). Its' color stretches out like a blanket and is truly a site to behold. It is cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, the third-largest source of vegetable oil in the world. We could not get enough of this plant and that was a good thing because it was literally around every bend reaching out to meet the skyline.

This patch contains bluebells, lily of the valley, a type of daisy and wild garlic. It was one of many, many pulls offs that Scott could not resist along the Cotswold Way, a 102-mile (164 km) long-distance footpath running along the Cotswold Escarpment of the Cotswold Hills in England. It is a National Park Trail and you can access it like you would the Appalachian Trail. The Cotswold Way uniquely runs through private land and people's backyards. Everywhere you drive, or walk there are signs that say "Public Footpath," as though inviting you along. We quite often accepted the invitation pulling off the side of the road to explore an undiscovered gem along an unexplored trail. These spontaneous excursions add up and will change your itinerary completely, but you will see castles with motes, 13 century abbeys and churches, grazing sheep, wild ponies, lavender fields, lily-of-the-valley, and the most adorable thatched houses.

As part of our journey we drove through an incredibly affluent region of England known as the Cotswolds - an area defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the U.K. (thus birds are protected and literally everywhere) and is quarried for the golden colored Cotswold stone used to build all of the Cotswold cottages.

I wanted to see these medieval villages, but was unprepared in many respects. Think Lamborghini. We saw a few. We were beginning to wonder if this was atypical English life until we entered a pub in Painswick, another adorable Cotswold village, where we drank a pint with an Englishwoman visiting some friends for the day. After our initial greeting she said to us, "Isn't this crazy? Like a movie set, or something? It's so surreal." Scott and I looked at each other and simultaneously exclaimed, "Exactly!"

Nevertheless, it's charm is captivating and we ate some of our best English food in these tiny Cotswold villages.

These are adorable apartments in Chipping Campden, one of the many villages we pottered around in. Flowers grow along the sidewalks and out of old limestone buildings.

The gardens are wild and yet delightfully hospitable! This was in Bibury, a rather famous, well photographed village.

Even the coastline brush is beautiful. This is in Exmoor National Park where Scott made me traverse an "off the beaten" coastal trail. It was amazing!!

We also visited a true working flower farm! This was one item on my bucket list for our trip to England and it was so inspiring. It was our first destination stop after landing in London. We rented a car (without a GPS mind you) were utterly jet lagged jet (well I was grumpy from a lack of sleep) and began our journey towards Oxfordshire, or more specifically Little Stoke, Wallingford. After several hours of navigating English roads, driving on the "wrong" side of the road, using a paper map and ultimately regretting our decision to be antiquated, we pulled off the side of the road to our first English pub. This would be the first of many stops at English pubs where no one could tell us where we were or where we were trying to go. The English don't know street names because half the time there are no street names!

We finally arrived at Green and Gorgeousa 4 acre flower farm run by the most delightful couple, Ashley and Renee and of course their cat (whose name I cannot remember). It was a wonderful reprieve and the perfect respite from our long journey. A great introduction to England. You can hear more about their farm through a Floret interview created just a week after we left!

And I cannot forget the cat (whose name I can’t remember!)

Another stop on our English excursion was to visit some dear friends, Helen and Dave Auperlee and their precious children Eliza and William. They live in the beautiful West Dorset countryside, just 15 minutes from the coast and the market town of Lyme Regis (think Jane Austin’s Persuasion). They are a part of the Pilsdon Community, a community that shares a common life of prayer, hospitality and work. The community is made up of 25-30 people who live and work together on a small farm, based around a manor house and its converted stables and barns. It was enchanting and such a gift of peace to be with them.

Although I could have stayed in the English countryside for longer, we made our way to London where flower stands and stores were commonplace. The gardens are just like I imagined. You peer down an alleyway and see gardens along the street and every courtyard contains its’ own magical beauty.

A typical flower stand in St. John’s Wood

Columbia Street Flower Market in Shoreditch

I was grateful for this vacation. It took me about 4 days to really feel okay about leaving my flowers. They were cared for by a neighbor and friend and when I returned to the farm they were bursting with color, which I was not expecting! Hopefully I will one day grow some of the varieties I saw in England. I definitely wanted to snag some of the English sweet pea seeds! Amazing!

© 2023 LITTLE SPARROW FLOWER FARM