I admit it. I am floral fiend. I love flowers. Their splashes of colour make my soul sing, their scents are bewitchingly beautiful and life is perfected and prettified by their presence.
With half of the world plunged into the depths of winter right now, with the permafrost making the soil hard cold and unyielding, with grey gloomy skies making us feel leaden inside it is now that I need some flowers.
I miss them. I want to feel their fragrance weaving clouds of perfume around me, I want to feel enfolded in their perfect petals, cocooned in their colourful and scented embrace.
Last year I was extremely lucky to attend a prestigious annual flower show here in England and wanted to share some of the photographs I took of the stunning blossoms and blooming creations I had the joy of seeing there.
They are all feasts for the eyes as well as food for the soul, and so here are some floral flights of fancy for the imagination to banish the winter blues;
The perfect peony, these lovelies were luscious and the perfume was a blend of sweet floral freshness both delicate and yet slightly rosy with a touch of citrus.
Blushing bride ranunculus flowers with paper thin petals, opening from chalky white to intense blush pink with a delicacy that spoke of both fragility and purity.
Close up of peony buds and blossoms - you may have guessed by now that I have a passion for peonies! This is a detail from an enormous circular wreath, filled with a multitude of peonies of varying shades and hues, that captured the attention of many photographers, largely because it was so darned difficult to get a good shot of it. Knowing my photographic limitations I chose to shoot this up close and personal, my nose almost touching the petals, which is pretty personal!
This is where floral fantasy goes on a phantasmagorical flight of fancy. A quite literally living "living room" styled and completely created from grasses, leaves, flowers and plants. From the growing grass 'carpet' to the cushions covered in blossoms, from a coffee table whose top was lavishly littered with tiny sedums and sempervivum plants to the flower studded wallpaper...this was a space where any wallflower would feel welcome!
These are lovely ladies look almost painted - pink and purple pansy orchids.
In the pink? This is surely the most vibrant luminous shade of pink you could ever imagine...a perfect pink peony.
And from pink to the deepest, most seductive, blood red. I could almost curl up like a little flower fairy and make a floral duvet or quilt from its soft petals.
And if snuggling up into the heart of a flower isn't enough for you, maybe actually wearing some flowers is! These wild and wonderful costume creations, featuring the purple iris and the red poppy, are designed by New Zealand artist Jenny Gillies and come complete with hats worthy of Ascot Races! This may be stretching floral fashion flair to the limit. I am not sure many of us could pull these dresses off! But bonkers though it is...it sure does make you smile!
And finally an architectural passionflower bloom from a plant growing in my own tiny garden. Grown from tiny 2 leafed seedling which was kindly given to me by a fellow green-fingered gardener and avowed floral fiend like myself, the plant was something of a Jack and the Beanstalk in that it grew to a towering stature within the first 12 months and by the second year it blessed us with edible fruits.
Sitting in the last of the summer sun we ate these little lemon coloured lovelies, with rich red seeds within, as the juices dribbled down our chins, wistfully contemplating the flowers from which these fruits had sprung. But also blessing them for their labour of love in transforming their petals and stamen into fruits for us to eat.
All photographs taken by me, lilygolightly, except the outside model shot which was taken by Oli Scarff.