In the garden, hellebores and snowdrop bulbs are emerging through the wintry ground, while beyond, in borrowed views, dangling catkins and blossom-laden blackthorn branches sway in the hedgerows. Thes

Louise Curley celebrates spring’s homegrown and low-carbon blooms, showing how to pick for months and arrange them in garden-gathered style

Make more plants this month by dividing perennials, sowing hardy annuals and planting summer bulbs

Erysimum Rysi Copper One of the definitions of a wallflower is that of a shy and awkward person with whom nobody wants to dance: I am sure we have all felt like that at some point in our adolescence.

Bulbs planted in autumn come to life now and deliver vibrant bursts of colour – a joy to see after the dark winter months. Daffodils (more on those overleaf) and tulips are enduring symbols of spring

I was born in the Bollenstreek, the stretch of land between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands, famous all over the world for its bulb fields. My father was a bulb farmer who grew tulips, daffod