wild rose, dahlia, aster
A windswept arrangement from the garden and surrounding hedgerows at the tail-end of the season.
OCTOBER
INGREDIENTS
Rosa canina (wild rose)
Dahlia ‘Strawberry Cream’ (dahlia)
Symphyotrichum turbinellum, 'Vasterival' & ‘Little Carlow’ (aster)
VASE
Antique terracotta footed dish
Liner
Kenzan
Small scrunch of chicken wire
NOTES
Extremely restrained for me… a massed arrangement with ruby red dog-rose hips, lilac asters and sugary dahlias.
Rosa canina (dog rose / briar rose / wild rose) is native to Europe and grows wild through many a hedgerow. It is the county flower of Hampshire, where our cutting garden is located. The flower was used as the basis for the rose used in medieval European heraldry and the name supposedly stems from the belief that the plant's root could cure the bite of a mad dog. It’s one of my absolute favourite materials but don’t forget your leather gauntlets - the thorns are vicious! From mid-late May every year I’ll be eagerly scanning the hedgerow for the single petalled flowers which range from white to a sugary pink. In the autumn these gorgeous oval fruits form, orange-red and glossy.