The April Edition
Spring To It!
Welcome to the April edition! Yes, it’s a little early as we’re still in March but we wanted to reach you all before the Easter break. April is definitely a favourite month of mine - by now, spring has definitely sprung, there is the long Easter weekend (with plenty of chocolate!), a little sitting/eating/gardening in the sunshine starting to creep in, long evenings, and cherry blossom; with strawberries, roses and bank holidays beckoning…
In this edition, we chat with the divine Milli Proust about her wonderful new book, ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’ and also chat with the super creative and talented cook-turned-cermacist, Kate Trelawny who we’ve just launched a collaboration with this weekend.
Willow Loves this month include stripes and skincare, pyjamas and heels. My flowery tip is my favourite spring centrepiece - a Shell Garden - spilling over with potted paperwhites and muscari. Make one for Easter weekend and add in some snakes head fritillaries and speckled eggs if you can.
Our My Last Supper guest is my friend Hattie Rickards whose fine jewellery is beyond exquisite and has now launched a collection of ‘ready to wear’ pieces to elevate the everyday.
Our edit to Spring Forward are 12 carefully curated pieces I think every wardrobe needs for this season (and next): colour, stripes, denim, raffia, a pop of red and some sparkle too.
Plus there’s garden tips for April and what do visit and look forward to this month.
Wishing you all a very happy month ahead!
With Love,
Willow
*This is my Monthly Free Edition, but every week, I send out emails to my paid subscribers with flowery, fashion, food and wellness content - ideas to inspire, create and nurture. I hope you will join our growing community, we have so much planned this year!
PS. this is a long read so might be best to read in web browser (just in case it cuts off in your email).
Willow Loves
What I’m loving this month…from vases to baskets, stripes and scallops, beads and more…
top row, left to right:
Meet Clara - a scallop-edged navy linen dream (with trousers!)
Our Kate Trelawny X Willow Crossley stoneware footed bowl
Bikini bead necklace to make spring sing
Perfect legs really are a skin miracle
The raffia basket in my favourite weave
Candy stripes are always a good PJ shout
Willow Loves… (6 more!)
(scroll to the end for our paid subscribers)
March Flowery Project - Shell Garden
It couldn’t be easier to create this beautiful spring table centrepiece. You can fill with whatever bulbs you have to hand (I’ve used paperwhites and muscari), and add some speckled eggs for a nod to Easter….
Spring To It!
12 new season essentials that pack a spring dopamine punch
Top row, left to right:
Linen Striped Trousers
Mini Raffia Bag
Rainbow Embellished Hoop Earrings
Red High Waist Wide Leg Trousers
Denim Blue Shirt
Summer Raffia Belt
Palest Pink Sunglasses
SÉZANE X SEA NY Avery Jacket
Chunky Knit Cotton & Linen Knitted Tank
adidas Originals Silver Samba OG’s
Red Scarf Silk Top
Brown High Wasit Wide Trouser
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Like the reference to the popular traditional nursery rhyme, ‘How Does Your Garden Grow?’, Milli Proust and her latest book carry an air of whimsical nostalgia about seeds to flowers and a love of the land, while at once being relevant for today and inspiring for the future of gardening.
We spent five minutes chatting with Milli about her wonderful new book, the power and pleasure of creativity, biodiversity for beginners, and much more...
Visit MiliProust.Com | Follow @miliproust | Order ‘How Does Your Garden Grow?’
5 minutes with Kate Trelawny
We are very excited to announce our special collaboration with talented British ceramicist, Kate Trelawny this weekend - two beautiful stoneware footed bowl vases that have been hand thrown on the wheel in Kate’s London studio and delicately decorated by hand. I have keenly followed Kate’s work and her story of cook for the fashion crowd turned ceramicist with a cult following. Here we we spent 5 minutes with Kate to find out more about her passion pivot into the world of ceramics…
Visit KateTrelawny.Com | Follow @katetrelawnyceramics
My Last Supper
With British jewellery designer, Hattie Rickards
Hattie Rickards is well known for her incredibly beautiful bespoke fine jewellery, and has now created a new collection of ready-to-wear pieces. Wardrobe ICONS are the foundations of a Hattie Rickards Jewellery wardrobe: refined, versatile, and designed to be worn on repeat. Built around the brand’s distinctive use of custom cut natural diamonds against polished gold. Hattie is our My Last Supper guest this month:
What would you have for your last meal on earth? A drink, a starter, a main course and pudding? You never get full and you can be wherever you want in the world…
Drink: A cold glass of manzanilla sherry.
Starter: A whole artichoke with warm melted butter - slow, indulgent, and worth every leaf.
Main: A beautiful charcuterie board - jamón, good cheese, chutneys - the kind of spread where you just keep picking and the conversation never stops.
Pudding: Dark chocolate truffles with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
Setting: A long table under an orange blossom tree in Andalucía, with the people I love most
The Wardrobe ICONS collection, perfect for dining alfresco in Andalucia is available now.
Visit HattieRickards.com | Follow @hattierickardsjewellery
Garden Tips for April 🌱
Tulips, daffodils, and cherry blossoms are usually at their best in April. Patience is also needed as while the frost has usually departed, April showers can be persistent. If your soil is still cold or heavy, wait a bit—working wet soil can ruin its structure.
Here are some jobs I’d recommend this month:
Feed & Mulch
- Add compost or well-rotted manure around plants
- Mulching helps retain moisture and suppress weeds
- Start feeding roses and other hungry plants
Prune & Tidy
- Lightly prune shrubs that flower later in summer (like buddleia)
- Cut back dead growth on perennials
Water Smartly
- April showers help, but containers dry out quickly
- Water early morning or evening to reduce evaporation
Indoors Out
- Harden off plants grown indoors before moving outside
- Protect them if a late frost hits (common in the UK even in April)
April Arts & Culture
What to see, visit & plan this month…
Visit Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A
Visit Tracey Emin: A Second Life exhibition at the Tate Modern
Visit the Lucian Freud Drawing into Painting exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery
Go to the David Hockney exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery
Go and see the new production of Romeo & Juliet at The Harold Pinter Theatre
Don’t miss the Rose Wylie exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts (until 19 April)
Plan your Chelsea Flower Show visit in May
