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That Winter Spring Thing

By Kriss MacDonald

Just as we were expecting spring to arrive here in West Sussex winter descended upon us. Throughout the winter months…
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My botanical desk – Autumn nature diary

By Kriss MacDonald

“Nature never did betray…The heart that loved her…For she can so inform the mind that is within us.” From The…
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Welcome

I’m Kriss MacDonald – a visual artist and photographer creating botanical stories and design. Often found chasing wild flowers or planting a garden in our new home in the Algarve, Portugal About me...

In my blog I record flora and fauna where I live or explore. 'Wild kids' is about ideas and adventures to encourage children to learn about nature and be outdoors. About my blog...

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I had to stop by this field of flowers by the coast after picking up my mum from an appointment. Some quiet moments at sunset. The last swipe gives you the bigger picture although they were all tiny wild flowers. #tostandandstare

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Flowers from my garden...I’m having to get used to the mix that turns up every season.
Still a few roses blooming, daffodils already showing up, Viburnum tinus all in bloom, cyclamen still going under the big Carob tree, Crocus flavus, Iris reticulate and even the first muscari peeping up here and there, trailing lantana. And my abutilon is flowering away - they’re the burgundy bell shaped ones with maple shaped leaves. And the wild Vicia sativa - Common vetch- is joining in everywhere.

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So I’m still have so much catch-up to do...work, home and garden....and here!!! Here’s one of my recent cataloguing of my finds in the wild and in the garden. Actually all in my garden except the last one (bottom right corner) which is wild white asparagus (Asparagus albus). There are quite few of these shrubs on the lanes by us and I really need to check if any have any white spears poking out in the ground in the middle of them! Although the middle sand stock is found near coastal sandy areas I’ve a few growing in my gravel now which I foraged and planted. Half my garden is gravel because the last owners only used it for their holidays but I’m slowly rewilding it. Or that’s a nice way to say that some of it is now completely covered in weeds and wild flowers - but better than looking like a car park 😂 I’ve been focusing on clearing and nourishing the ground around my fruit trees in the hope of a good yield in the future - while the puppies forage for olives and carobs on the ground(although they avoid the lemons!) #poetryofsimplethings

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Wild vs Garden in January. It’s been a mad mad week but managed to do my monthly comparison 💃💐 It’s been a month of wild paperwhites - Narcissus papyraceus, almond tree blossoms, Oxalis pes-caprae, and asphodels everywhere around us. I’ve also included Iris albicans- white iris- which isn’t a true wild flower but you see it growing now wild all along the roadsides in the countryside. In the garden the Rudbeckia just keeps on flowering and flowering, as well as a couple of my hibiscus plants, cyclamen, primrose, pansies and the first yellow crocus.
I’ve actually got some gardening done as I’m taking the puppies out in turns for training and a run around. Discovered the best way to get them to listen to me/train them is individually otherwise I’m chasing two of them around the garden. And tomorrow morning will be finishing the redecoration of my mum’s little kitchen. All repainted and new shelves which my hubs made and I painted will go up too. Rather happy that January is over as so behind on my work and plans! Was your January productive? Xx

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I was tempted just to have a little snooze when I was out flat on the ground taking pictures of the tiny little pink sand stocks - near the coast in first and by a nearby cliff edge at the second at sunset.

It’s been rather non stop and every spare moment I’ve been painting/redecorating (nightmare black mould here in our old farmhouse), taking my mum to appointments, puppy training and all the rest...so yes a nap amidst wild flowers is my tonic! How’s your week going? 😂💐#thewildnesstonic

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Tiny little flowers found near the coast including Malcolmia tuloba, Linaria amethystea, Papaver dubium. Which spring wild flowers do you especially look forward to?

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I found one early flowering pink rockrose - Cistus albidus known as the grey-leaved Cistus - on a cliff walk. I live in the middle of the rural countryside but a short drive from the beaches.

This weekend my wild twins had a surfing class at another beach. In the background here is the Arch of Abandeira. When it’s warm we regularly swim in a little beach behind it which also has a beach shack serving delicious pizzas. But for now it’s walking not swimming here for me...

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So here’s our two rescued puppies with almond blossoms. Almost two weeks ago we found them abandoned on the side of our road. They’re now just over 8 and a half weeks old...and their home is with us. They’re a mix with some Rafaeiro do Alentejo, a Portuguese breed, so they’re going to be quite big someday!
And already they’re helping me with the gardening. I’m just looking forward to a quiet lazy weekend...what about you? X

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” Henry David Thoreau

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Copyright 2013-2019 Kriss MacDonald. All rights reserved. All photographs, art, patterns and designs appearing on this site are the property of Kriss (Kristina) MacDonald. They are not to be downloaded, copied, stored, altered or reproduced in any way without permission or licensing agreement.

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