I was never the sort of person, growing up, that had green fingers. This was a little odd in my family; my mother is an incredibly keen gardener, and her parents were professional horticulturalists. It’s in my roots!

But the older I’ve got, the more I have started to appreciate the incredible calming effect of plants.

I don’t know if it’s the placebo effect of the calming colour of green, the idea that I’m finally able to keep (some) plants alive, or the dream of summer/spring coming, but I am finding myself sitting by the windows and in the conservatory more and more often.

I just love it!

Writing can be stressful sometimes, and as an author, I’m always looking for ways to help my productivity and at the same time write better books. I’m finding writing in my conservatory (where I’m typing this now!) is really helping.

Plants are the best. I’m going to be honest, not all of my plants inside are real – it’s just less stressful to have beautiful fake plants from IKEA sometimes! – but I have been growing mint from cuttings, and that has been incredibly fun. It’s starting to make me wonder whether to have a gardener hero or heroine in a future book…

Are you green-fingered? Let me know if the comments if your home is full of real plants, fake plants, or you are yet to dive into the green-fingered community!