Meadows in Miniature

Bring A Little Wildness Into Your Life...

We have re-editioned our much-loved Meadow card, and you'll now find it letterpress printed in our signature classic size, hand-painted to order as always. It has just the right amount of space for a short & sweet note without the pressure of too much blank space to fill!

Wildflowers wrap around our Sussex cottage and my home studio looks out onto them for much of the year, a constant source of inspiration and a barometer of the seasons.

For most people, September signifies the return to school, to structure and routine, but for anyone who manages a meadow, it is also the last chance to make hay before the sun stops shining; a month of scything, strewing, raking and mowing.

Now that every wildflower has set seed for next year, we’ll get up early to cut everything down while it’s still wet with dew - scythes likes it better that way - and rake the cuttings up to give to friends for seed, or put on our compost heap.

Then, I’ll wildly over-order bulbs to add to Spring's magic carpet, and spend the next two months panic about getting them all in the ground before the first frosts...

Recipe for a Mini Meadow

Meadows are an important habitat and source of food for insects and bees - alarmingly Britain has lost 97% of its native wildflower meadows since WWII.

Even in a small space, you can create a little oasis of wildness and beauty that requires a lot less maintenance! Find an old trough, pot or planter - junk shops and car boot sales are fertile hunting grounds for these - and fill with wild bulbs that the bees will love come spring.

When the bulbs die back, scatter wildflower seed onto the compost and cover with a thin new layer for a floriferous summer offering. Every year, the charity 38 Degrees send out free wildflower seeds in the UK- sign up to their newsletter to know when they open applications for 2027, or buy them from Higgledy Garden here.

Last year I potted up an old wash tub and loved the combination so much I thought I'd share it with you. Fill your chosen vessel with peat-free organic compost, and add as many bulbs of the following as you can squeeze in - they should all flower in beautiful unison, and for a good while:

Tulipa bakerii 'Lilac Wonder'

Narcissus 'Tahlia'

Fritillaria uva-vulpis

Muscari armeniacum

Farmer Gracy & Peter Nyssen are both reliable, inexpensive sources of bulbs.

One of the pioneers of meadow gardening, and an excellent places to see them cultivated to extraordinary effect, is Great Dixter. Our collaborative notecard collection supports their work in biodiversity and in training the next generation of ecologically conscious gardeners. Each card is large enough to write an extended note or short letter. Discover our Great Dixter Collection.

Over the past decade, wildflowers have sown themselves more and more into my life and my work, I'll never tire of them, and I hope this inspires you to give some a home too, and bring a little wildness into your life....