Sonya Patel Ellis

London

Senior Content Creator at Gardeners' World

Sharing notes from a botanical world, making connections between plants, people, words & wellbeing. Author of books. Teacher of gardening and herbs.

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Articles

Discover how to make this beautiful advent calendar using natural materials

Nov 13, 2024 | gardensillustrated.com | Sonya Patel Ellis

Gardens Illustrated picks out garden furniture, tools and lifestyle items that we think are the best and most exciting, based on independent research and careful consideration. On some occasions we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products. But this doesn’t affect what we choose to highlight and we will never let it bias our coverage. Gardens Illustrated has joined together with The Herbarium Project to show you how to make an Advent calendar for Christmas.
Wild strawberries are the candy of the countryside - here's how to forage for them

Jul 22, 2024 | countryfile.com | Lauren Franklin |Sonya Patel Ellis

Exquisitely sweet, deliciously ruby-red and delectably tiny, wild strawberries are the candy of the countryside – and a sure sign that summer is on its wayThere’s nothing quite like foraging for summer fruits in the fields or woodlands of the countryside to confirm that the season is well and truly in full swing.
Wood sorrel: how to identify, forage and use this zingy herb

Jul 3, 2024 | countryfile.com | Lauren Franklin |Sonya Patel Ellis

Take time to notice the little things as you walk through the woodlands in spring and summer. One of the first to carpet the understory is white-flowered, lemon-tasting wood sorrel. Thriving in the edges of woodlands and hedgerows across the British Isles, abundantly flowering wood sorrel provides a feast of pollen and nectar for early pollinators.
Meadowsweet: how to identify and use this natural remedy

Jul 1, 2024 | countryfile.com | Lauren Franklin |Sonya Patel Ellis

This delicate wildflower boasts a surprising history as a natural remedy, offering a hint of sweetness alongside potential pain relief. Sweet by name and nature, you’ll no doubt smell fully edible Filipendula ulmaria before you encounter it in all its frothy-flowered, almond scented glory, growing tall along the side of riverbanks, in ditches or in damp meadows. A truly generous plant, it also provides food for bees, hoverflies, ladybirds and several species of moth caterpillar.
Bilberry guide: how to identify, where to find them and how they're different to blueberries

Jun 11, 2024 | countryfile.com | Lauren Franklin |Sonya Patel Ellis

Often overshadowed by its close relative the blueberry, the bilberry is a fascinating little fruit with a rich history and potential health benefits. Vaccinium myrtillus, also known as blaeberries (Scotland), whortleberries (West Country), wimberries (Wales), fraochan (Ireland), and European blueberry, are native to Greenland, temperate Eurasia, and western parts of Canada and the United States.
Decorate eggs for Easter with botanical flower prints

Mar 25, 2024 | gardensillustrated.com | Sonya Patel Ellis

There are lots of ways to dye eggs for Easter, springtime or as special treat all year round. The traditional way is to make dyes using natural ingredients such as berries, vegetables, leaves, flowers and spices. This is surely the most beautiful way too, producing a wide range of pastel and earthy tones from dusky pink to powder blue, lavender, ochre and charcoal.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park walk: a peaceful amble through East London's wetlands and meadows

Nov 27, 2023 | countryfile.com | Lauren Franklin |Sonya Patel Ellis

Head to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for an easy, inspiring stroll through a network of biodiverse habitats from curated gardens to wilder wetlands and meadows. Since opening for the 2012 Olympic Games, the park now includes 102 acres of managed green space around the River Lea and its canals including nearly 6,000 trees, over 120,000 flowers and plants, 6.5km of waterways, and designated landscaping for birds, bats, pollinators, and other insects.
How to make a dried flower Christmas wreath hoop

Oct 24, 2023 | gardensillustrated.com | Sonya Patel Ellis

At first glance, Olga Prinku’s hooped artworks appear to be composed using traditional embroidery threads. On closer inspection it’s evident that most of the ‘stitches’ are in fact exquisite arrangements of dried and preserved flowers, foliage, berries and seedheads woven into a background of tulle (think ballet tutus and bridal veils). Looking closely and finding patterns in nature is one of the driving forces of Olga’s work.