Nothing says ‘spring has sprung’ to me like Fritillaria. Every winter I count down the days until these incredible flowers are back and this week the studio was graced with their presence once again.
How delicious it is to handle these vibrant blues and purples after the long winter! At this time of the year I crave colour but find that I tend to err towards palettes that are analogous or tonal.
The grey, lichen-draped rose stems and the velvety brown iris keep the arrangement muted - it feels very capricious and early spring to me - moments of warmth and sunny exuberance tempered by scudding clouds and a sudden hailstorm.
This arrangement began with one single Heuchera leaf - soft yellow with a bleeding raspberry pink outline. I took this with me around the garden searching for materials that either matched or closely complemented these two colours.
When creating a distinctly sculptural shape like this I really assess my branches - laying them out on the table or floor, appraising their shapes and natural bent - which way do they want to lean?
I use the hand-vase technique (covered in detail in our forthcoming online course ‘Bouquets’), arranging the stems into my hand as if it were a vessel and allowing the ingredients space to breath and show off their individual curves and quirks.
I choose two types of branch - one blossoming (Prunus spinosa), one leafy (Carpinus), two ‘filler’ foliages (Luzula & Epimedium), a spire flower (Fritillaria), a focal flower (Narcissus) and a gestural flower (Leucojum).
The diminutive flowers that emerge as spring unfolds appear almost impossibly fragile and are somehow all the more precious for it. Arranging these tiny stems is a meditative process - very specific, very gentle.
