The June Edition
The Outside Beckons
Welcome to the June edition.
Summer at last! It’s been hiding again this weekend after coming on very strong throughout May. However, the promising signs of almost everyone’s favourite season are everywhere - the roses are out with abundance, summer plans are being finalised, birdsong is strong, evenings are long and that wonderful feeling that slower, summer days are stretching ahead of us.
But first, it’s a busy month to get through. I’m heading to Italy next week to flower for a high summer event there (I can’t wait to report back!) and I know that wherever you are, there is lots to do before a summer slow down.
I hope you enjoy this free monthly edition full of my summer loves - flowers (with rose advice from the experts!), fashion, outdoor furniture, inspiration for creative pursuits, garden tips (and tour), and a mini interview with the charming and wonderfully inspiring, Meredithe Stuart-Smith from the imaginative and chic global party brand, Meri Meri.
Wishing you all a very happy month of June.
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. Plus videos, chat and much more. I hope you will join us!
Willow Loves
What I’m loving this month - stripes, linen, collagen and our tablecloth of the summer!
Willow Loves… (6 more!)
(scroll to the end for our paid subscribers)
Coming Up Roses
June is definitely a time to stop and smell the roses and this year they seem better than ever - resilient through a heat wave and heavy rain storms; big and blousy and heavenly scented. So we chatted with Liam Beddall, ‘Head Rosarain’, at David Austin Roses to answer some burning questions about one of June’s favourite friends - the rose…
This month, the roses feel even more plentiful and of scale than usual - has this anything to do with the mast year? could there be other reasons?
I definitely agree that this year has been a year for the rose! This could be to do with the mast year, but equally we had a fair amount of rainfall over the winter. There is plenty of moisture; this, coupled with the wonderful sunshine and heat we have had over the last couple of weeks will certainly have helped.
What are your 3 best tips for getting the best out of roses?
First of all, ensure you have chosen the right rose for the right place, don’t put a 35ft rambler on a 6ft fence! To do this consult experts, rose guides and online resources.
Secondly, spend time improving the planting space by adding plenty of organic matter, soil improver or compost to the soil. Choosing a space that is light and airy is also very important.
Finally, keep on top of maintenance throughout the year, giving the rose lots of water if it is dry, a feed in the spring and deadheading where needed throughout the summer.
What are the David Austin bestsellers?
Olivia Rose Austin is one of our best all-around shrub roses, it is great for containers and borders and has a beautiful flower.
Gertrude Jekyll, voted the world’s favourite rose last year, has a wonderfully strong Damask fragrance and is another favourite.
Tottering by Gently is a single flower rose and very attractive to pollinators. It works really well in wild spaces, mixed borders, and hedges, it also produces brilliant hips if you don’t deadhead it.
For climbing roses, The Generous Gardener is great on a north-facing wall, it has a lovely fragrance and will climb to about 15ft.
Or Mary Delaney, that’s my favourite English climber.
Best roses for pots and how best to look after them?
When selecting a rose for a container you really want to look for those key words: bushy and rounded, that is the growth habit which is really important. Olivia Rose Austin and Dannahue are both great for containers, Dannahue has a beautiful apricot-colored flower, it is quite compact and has a strong fruity fragrance. Finally, Princess Anne will always be my favourite in a pot, is is very robust and free flowering.
Best roses for a novice gardener or a small space?
For smaller spaces, Eustacia Vye is a great option, the blooms start an interesting apricot pink and then as they age become a very pure pink. Scarborough Fair or Desdamona are also brilliant options for smaller spaces.
My tips for flowering with roses - if you can to let them be on their own or together with others, there is almost nothing better! But they also work beautifully with seasonal summer flowers such as sweet peas, campanula, honeysuckle and cosmos….
Let’s Go Outside
The outside beckons (we promise!). It’s time to hoist up the parasol and wheel out the sun loungers, bring out the cushions and fire up the BBQ….
Centre:
Odd Vaas Manganese Rocker by Emma Grant
Clockwise from Top Left:
Octagonal Double Top Crank & Tilt Parasol With Scalloped Edge
Haymes Metal Sun Lounger With Wheels
The Stripes Company Sun Shelter in Green Stripe
Secateurs
Breakwater Navy Stripe Deck Chair
Berkfield Home Adirondack Chairs
Haymes Outdoor Metal Sofa Set & Coffee Tale in Scarlet Stripe
Curato Garden Sofa - Green
Willowbrook Lattice Sun Lounger in Natural
Clarence Urn
Set of 2 Bianca Solid Teak/Woven Resin Dining Chairs
Interview
The very ‘Meri’ Meredithe Stuart-Smith
The uber creative founder of global party brand, Meri Meri, Meredithe Stuart-Smith transformed her early passion for design into a big business. As a child, she would stick cards she designed in her window - in the hopes that a Hallmark employee walking past would notice (the Hallmark HQ was just nearby in Kansas City). By the 1980s, creating handmade cards at her kitchen table, Meredithe laid the creative foundations and Meri Meri was born. Fast forward more than 40 years to today and Meredithe’s global brand is sold in over 80 countries; and with a new flagship store in Notting Hill and office headquarters in The Cotswolds, Meredithe is now also calling England home.
We spent five minutes chatting with the visionary Meredithe about big dreams, dream parties, global travel; and we play favourites…
Tell us about your early years and upbringing. Were you always artistic, visionary, and interested in creativity?
I grew up in the 60s and 70s, which was a pretty fun time to be a child and teenager. My family felt quite bohemian and a bit crazy looking back. My stepfather was part of a university and our house was always full of students, parties, and great music. What an era!
When and why did you start Meri Meri?
If I really think about it, I started Meri Meri when I was about eight. I grew up down the street from the headquarters of Hallmark in Kansas City. I used to hand-make greeting cards and tape them to my bedroom window (facing out), hoping someone from Hallmark would walk by and spot them.
What’s been your biggest lesson in business?
I think you always need to be offensive and defensive in strategy. If you carve a niche in the marketplace, it doesn’t take long before there is serious competition. You have to be constantly changing in product and strategy.
What is your proudest moment since launching Meri Meri?
I am proudest of the team I have built. We have so many wonderful people that have been part of the company for 20 years plus. Many started just out of university. Seeing our big display in Bergdorf Goodman was probably my proudest singular moment.
“I grew up down the street from the headquarters of Hallmark in Kansas City. I used to hand-make greeting cards and tape them to my bedroom window (facing out), hoping someone from Hallmark would walk by and spot them.”
How do you stay relevant as a global business?
I love fashion, art, travel—all things cultural. I am excited every day by the creativity going on in the world. I think the more chaotic the world is, the more people create amazing things to find refuge in that chaos. It all influences what we do. I took someone from our team to the ballet last night, just to get inspiration for some products.
Best piece of advice you’ve been given as an entrepreneur?
There has been so much good advice. The two that really guide me: 1) try hard to stay focused on the things you are good at and 2) hire for the areas you are not.
I was told by a very successful business person, “You are carving a niche in the marketplace; others are going to try and take that from you. They will only know what you did yesterday, not what you are going to do tomorrow.” That advice always keeps me moving forward.
“I think the more chaotic the world is, the more people create amazing things to find refuge in that chaos.”
When did you move to England and what do you like (or dislike!) most?
I moved to England in the early 90s. I immediately fell in love with everything about London. There is so much going on. Brexit did break my heart and has definitely affected the way I see living here. However, I still feel it’s a wonderful, vibrant, exciting place to live.
What 3 elements does every party need?
A theme for children or adults makes a party so much easier to host. Even if it is just around food, it helps you focus and be more creative. Have at least one absolutely fabulous element to any party—mine is often dessert! It is also so much fun to set the table. Covid brought all this back into fashion and everyone is having a great time with it.
Tell us about your dream party…
I have a summer house on the coast of Downeast Maine. My dream party would be at my house, surrounded by my whole family and lots of friends.
Homemade pasta to start (my son makes the best), followed by Maine lobster (with a lot of salted butter for dipping), fresh corn on the cob, and a side of garlic bread. Coffee ice cream with hot chocolate sauce for dessert.
Homemade Margaritas are always a hit. We also make a wild Blueberry Smash in Maine.
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…
It would have to be a large bowl of spaghetti bolognese with a lot very good Parmesan. My friend’s mom’s (Jodi Bergin) coffee ice cream pie for desert. A never ending supply of ice cold super fizzy Pelligrino.
You’ve opened your first store in Notting Hill - tell us more about that and how it feels…
It is so much fun to have a shop and tell the full Meri Meri story visually. We have visitors from all over the world that have been Meri Meri fans for years. It’s wonderful to meet them.
What’s next for Meri Meri?
We have some amazing collaborations coming out in the next 18 months. We are working with a lot of cool brands, designing products we never could have imagined.
Let’s Play Favourites
Flower: Absolutely anything Willow is using
Artist: Matisse is so joyful. I just saw a great exhibition in Paris. I wish I would have bought a Lynette 20 years ago!
Interior Designer: Stephanie Scheer Young. She is so smart.
Scent / Fragrance: Parade by Celine
Travel destinations: Maine always. I also love Jaipur
Place in the UK: The V&A
Book: Currently reading Lonesome Dove—so many cowboys! I also loved Keith McNally’s book, I Regret Almost Everything, and Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis is so good and very funny
TV series: Currently, Margot has Money Troubles. Also The Sopranos (I’ve watched it 3 times)
Film: The Wizard of Oz
Wellness ritual: Walking
Colour: Orange
Beauty essential: Highlights in my hair
Music or soundtrack: Anything from JJ Cale to the Black Eyed Peas
Season: Late summer
Restaurant: The River Café
Meal: Homemade pasta
Mentor: Michelle Obama
Visit MeriMeri.co.uk / Follow @merimeriparty
Create in a Kit
We’ve noticed a rise in interior craft projects for the home that arrive in a chic kit box. A perfect invitation to slow down, indulge in creativity and add a handcrafted piece to your home. A lovely idea to give, to treat oneself to or to entice offspring to create together (and lure them off screens)…
Rosie de Ruig - Paper Lampshade Making Kits
These are gorgeous, and there is a video on Rosie’s site to help you all the way. Choose from different patterned shades, singular or a pair, and we think this Aubrey in putty paper is particularly pretty.
Molly Mahon - Block Print Tea Towel Kit
A very lovely git idea and and easy crafting project, these tea towels can be created by little people with a little help and make a lovely present, and you can keep the block print for future endeavours. Molly also has lovely stationery kits.
The Fabled Thread - A Night At The Circus Embroidery Art Kit
These kits are beautiful - a little more advanced in the creating ability -collect all the designs to create artwork for the home with beautiful framed borders included in the kit.
Meri Meri Flower Embroidery Suitcase Kit
What little person doesn’t love a suitcase! And a kit to embellish one’s own is just such a sweet gift and something to do together.
Have you seen any other kits you love?
Open Garden in Wales
Vaynor Park in the Welsh countryside is my family home - where I spent my childhood roaming free, foraging with my brothers and where my love of flowers and gardens was first ignited. There is an open garden on the 24th of June hosted by my mother, artist and gardener, Kate Corbett-Winder. She and my father, William, would love to see you there.
Having opened for a number of years for the National Garden Scheme, this year, my parents have decided to open on a private pre-ticketed basis only and to provide a special event opening with a talk and private guided tour by my mother, Kate.
For more information, directions and bookings (which are essential) click here.
Garden Tips for June 🌱
It’s not too late to sow for summer flowers in the garden for colour or cut flower use. In much of England, June is actually one of the most productive months for getting seeds into the ground. For annuals, choose Cosmos (one of the best and easiest to grow cut flowers and also work in pots), Cornflowers, Calendula, Nasturtiums, Nigella, and Sweet Alyssum to flower in summer and into the autumn. You may still be able to plant Dahlias in tubers to flower in late summer and into autumn.
For vegetables, you could try Lettuce, French beans, Beetroot and Radishes for harvest this summer.
Don’t forget to water your garden! This is so important in June. Pay particular attention to newly planted perennials and bedding plants and especially during dry spells
Deadhead roses, geraniums and other flowers in their flowering peak to encourage more blooms
Keep on weeding where you can while the soil is still relatively moist
Stake the tall flowers such as delphiniums, dahlias, and sweet peas before they flop over
Trim spring-flowering shrubs after flowering
In the greenhouse, ventilate to prevent overheating, make sure you water daily during warm weather, feed tomatoes and flowering container plants regularly and check for pests such as aphids and whitefly
To encourage wildlife in the garden, leave some areas uncut for pollinators, keep bird baths topped up with fresh water and avoid spraying insecticides when bees are active
June Arts & Culture
What to see, visit & plan this month…
Don’t miss Rosamind Pike in Inter Alia at The Wyndham Theatre until 20 June
Take a trip to my parent’s open garden in Wales through National Garden Scheme on 24 June
Don’t miss Romeo & Juliet at The Harold Pinter Theatre (until 22 June)
Join Countryside Arts Club at one of their events this June - Threads Through Time: Goodwood Art Foundation in Chichester on 11 June, The Secret Garden at Worcester College, Oxford on 18 June, and In Essence - sculptors in conversation, near Wantage on 19 June
Go and see 1536 at the Ambassador’s Theatre
Go and see Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A
Don’t miss Tracey Emin: A Second Life exhibition at the Tate Modern until August
Visit a Giffords Circus this summer when it’s nearby
Book now for Marilyn Monroe - A Portrait at The National Portrait Gallery
Book ahead with tickets for To Kill A Mockingbird at the Wyndham Theatre (starts 25 June)
PS. Willow Loves (6 more!)
The swimsuit of the season, body SPF, culottes you’ll thank me for & more…
