pantone spring 2015: en plein air {treetop}

Cabbages by Unknown via Pinterest

Eyes of the Insane by OurLady-OfSorrow on DeviantArt

a d i n a by Stefania Jane on Flickr via justeunedeplus on Tumblr

Tea Picker by Unknown via The Owl and the Heart on Tumblr

Last Pantone Colour Report day, excluding Marsala 18-1438, which I posted in January. And today is an appropriate day to post such a lush green as Treetop 18-0135, because it's raining and everything in the garden's lush and bright, as the sun keeps peeking through, and outside my window, the trees have started come into leaf, the lilac is starting to flower and the honesty has been providing a wonderful splash of purple over the last few weeks. It's one of my favourite times of year.

Plus, it's Chelsea time - and not the irritating faux-reality television series, but the garden show, which my mum and I always enjoy watching for al the pretty flowers and design ideas. It must be a wonderful feeling to create your own garden.

And I have a little success story from the garden this year, three of the peony seeds, which my gran saved from her tree peony and I planted two years ago have finally emerged!

Yes, I have waited two years to see if any of these marble sized seeds would finally germinate. I've stood in the snow, piling handfuls on each pot to keep them cold, I have been patients and this is what I have to show for it, three (though it was four) healthy little saplings which have trebled in size since I took these photographs.

Peonies are one of my favourite flowers, we have at least a dozen in the garden at home, so to have grown my own from seeds my gran's saved, is a pretty nice feeling, plus, guess what colour they may be? Lellow.

Things however, I have learnt from growing peonies from seeds:
1) They need cold to germinate. They like snow, so don't cover them, or, if you have them in a cold frame over the winter, pile it high to keep them cold.
2) If you want the seeds to germinate in the first year, plant them when they are still fresh, yellow in colour and soft. If you plant them when they've turned black as I did, they will take two years because the husk needs to bio-degrade to start the process of germination.
3) The first year you plant them from black seeds, the husk will rot and roots will begin to form in the soil, don't throw them away if you see nothing after the first year. Label them, put them somewhere safe and let them alone.
4) During year two, the plant will put its energy to germinate the first leaves that your plant will push out of the soil. Again, don't throw away any that don't, the seeds can remain dormant.
5) Don't move the plant to a larger container until the foliage has died back at the end of the year, or you may disturb the plants growth.
6) If you have seeds from a hybrid plant, they will probably not be true to colour. If they're from a non-hybrid, the colour should be true. So it's pot luck.
7) It will probably be five years before you see your first flowers!

That last one's a bit rubbish. Plus, is that five years from when you plant them, or five from when they emerge? I'm thinking probably the latter, so by the time I see my first flowers, I will be approaching thirty five!

After that terrifying revelation, I hope you've liked the Pantone Fashion Colour Report for Spring (and Summer) 2015 boards. I actually really enjoy doing Pantone centred mood boards, and originally, I wasn't that impressed by their En Plein Air, colour choices, but actually, one by one I've started to think it's quite a pretty collection of softly muted summer colours.

That said, give me a jewel tone any day!


Link | Pantone Fashion Colour Report Spring 2015
Link | Cabbages by Unknown via Pinterest
Link | Eyes of the Insane by OurLady-OfSorrow on DeviantArt (Pinterest)
Link | a d i n a by Stefania Jane on Flickr via justeunedeplus on Tumblr (Pinterest)
Link | Tea Picker by Unknown via The Owl and the Heart on Tumblr (Pinterest)

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Listening: In Water I Am Beautiful- City and Colour