Blossom bouquet

Hellebore, TULIP, SNOWDROP & FERN

An abundant mantelpiece design with seasonal flowers in brass vases.

FEBRUARY

INGREDIENTS

Helleborus ‘Merlin’, ‘Maestro’, ‘Ice n’Roses’, ‘Penny’s Pink’, ‘Molly’s White’, ‘Glenda’s Gloss’ (Lenten rose)

Trachelaspermum jasminoides (jasmine)

Primula ‘Sphinx Peach’ (primrose)

Epimedium (fairy wings)

Nandina domestica (sacred bamboo)

Galanthus (snowdrop)

Hedera helix (ivy)

Eleagnus ebbingei (Ebbing’s silverberry)

Dryopteris felix-mas (fern)

Tulipa ‘Sissi’, ‘Scarlet Verona’, ‘Verona Sunrise’, ‘North Cap’, ‘First Class’, ‘Crown of Dynasty’, ‘Flash Point’ (tulip)

Leucojum (snowflake)

Narcissus ‘Primo’ & ‘Paperwhite’ (daffodil)

Brachythecium rutabulum (rough-stalked feather moss)

NOTES

We love our bouquets to be layered with interesting textures, for the ingredients to qualify not just for being pretty but surprising and sculptural too. Case in point - a ravishing armful of ingredients from the garden in early spring. Sugary blossom, and candy pink berries are counterbalanced by the matt, muddy petals of the hellebores and the scratchy dried skeletons of St John’s wort. A ribbon with a luxurious sheen enhances the romance.

Whispers of spring

HELLEBORE, PRIMROSE, DAFFS

A cheering bowl of flowers after a week of non-stop London rain; this citrine concoction of early spring flowers and pretty leaves is a celebration of slowly (but surely!) inching toward those warmer, lighter days.

MARCH

INGREDIENTS

Nandina domestica (sacred bamboo)

Rubus (blackberry)

Kolkwitzia amabilis ‘Pink Cloud’ (beauty bush)

Eleagnus commutata (silver berry)

Helleborus ‘Ice n’ Roses’ & ‘Harvington Apricot’ (lenten rose)

Anemone ‘The Bride’ (wind flower)

Fritillaria raddeana (Radde's fritillary)

Iris reticulata ‘North Star’ (netted iris)

Primula (cowslip)

Narcissus ‘Elka’, ‘Jack Snipe’, ‘Minnow’, ‘Blushing Lady’, ‘Spoirot’ (daffodil)

VASE

Ceramic bowl from Korea with a pitted tobacco glaze

Kenzan

NOTES

I want to avoid the arrangement being too ‘contrast-y’ - with a mix of pale flowers and much darker foliage this can look blocky. To soften and bridge the two extremes I introduce some lighter green foliage - khaki and olive, and a few touches of bronze from the Nandina. This immediately feels more nuanced and the bronze picks up the brown tones in the hellebore petals.

Minimal

PERSIAN LILY, LIME & CORNELIAN CHERRY

A minimalist flower arrangement using whiskery spring branches including branches of exquisite Cornus mas from Sissinghurst and the nodding pistachio and plum bells of Fritillaria persica.

MARCH

INGREDIENTS

Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry)

Tilia cordata (lime)

Fritillaria persica & ‘Ivory Bells’ (Persian lily)

VASE

An ’Aesme Studio’ take on a seika bowl

Kenzan

NOTES

I love finding interesting branches, so it’s a treat to be able to use this fragrant Cornus mas, a member of the dogwood family. The common name is cornel, or Cornelian cherry and at this time of the year it is misted with yellowy-green flowers in spherical clusters on otherwise bare woody stems. Later in the summer the blossoms are replaced by red sour-cherry-like fruit, accompanied by orange red leaves. Native to central and south-eastern Europe, the fruit is a staple food in Ukraine and also in Serbia, Turkey, Georgia and Iran where it is grown commercially as a fruit crop to be made into juice, preserves and wine. It is popular in California as an ornamental tree, flowering a few weeks prior to Forsythia. The dense wood has been used for centuries to make handles for tools as well as bows, javelins and spears. The bark is exfoliating, peeling off in grey and tan strips which gives it a beautifully textural appearance.

Big and branchy

CURRANT, NARCISSI & FORSYTHIA

Whiskery Forsythia branches with white flowering currant, Fritillaria persica and lots of scented Narcissi in an antique urn.

MARCH

INGREDIENTS

Forsythia (golden bells)

Ribes sanguineum ‘White Icicle’ (flowering currant)

Narcissus ‘Actea’, ‘Mount Hood’, ‘Blushing Lady’ (daffodil)

Fritillaria persica (Persian lily)

VESSEL

A small, handled urn made of cast iron

Large kenzan & chicken wire

NOTES

Now that spring is well and truly under way it's time to flex my flower arranging muscles again and make something big and dramatic! I choose a rusted urn - we collect these old garden urns from antique markets and reclamation yards; they often have holes in the bottom as they are used to display plants outdoors so to make them water tight we fill the bases with concrete (or you can just find a suitably sized liner pot to insert inside).

Sweetly scented

HYACINTH & JAPANESE MAPLE

A group of pale pink and lilac hyacinth with Japanese maple in a glorious ginger brown leaves tipped with raspberry pink, mauve-grey hellebores, ferns and lemon daffodils.

MARCH

INGREDIENTS

Acer (Japanese maple)

Dryopteris (wood fern)

Hyacinthus ‘City of Bradford’ & ‘China Pink’ (hyacinth)

Helleborus ‘Maestro’ & ‘Harvington White Speckled’ (hellebore)

Narcissi (daffodil)

VASE

A cream ceramic ‘curvy’ vase by James Burnett-Stuart

NOTES

Colour and texture - two essentially important elements in floral design. Here, the intricate ginger feathers of unfurling Japanese maple contrast well with what we call ‘a strong leaf’ - bright green, sword-shaped ferns. The grey and plum tones of the hellebores could be dreary on their own, but are lifted by the addition of creamy and citrus yellow Narcissi and the jazzy hyacinths, used low as a filler.

Marmalade

FIDDLENECK, EARTH SMOKE & CANARY BIRD ROSE

A spring arrangement in a complementary colour palette of mauve and buttercup yellow, with some mustard and marmalade thrown in for good measure.

APRIL

INGREDIENTS

Kolkwitzia (beauty bush)

Rubus (blackberry bramble)

Heuchera (coral bells)

Rosa ‘Canary Bird’ (rose)

Papaver (poppy)

Phacelia tanacetifolia (fiddleneck)

Fumaria officinalis (earth smoke)

Tellima grandiflora (fringe cups)

Fritillaria acmopetala (pointed-petal fritillary)

Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ (cranesbill)

VASE

An ‘Aesme Studio’ ceramic bowl

Chicken wire

NOTES

A species of the borage family, Phacelia is a recent discovery for us and we are enchanted! Other commons names are blue tansy, heliotrope and scorpion weed. The grey-green leaves are attractive and fern-like beneath curling tendrils and soft, lavender blue, bell-shaped flowers. Popular as a ‘green manure’, Phacelia is a fast-growing, high biomass plant, a nitrogen holder and natural weed suppressor and its eye catching flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects. It’s great fun to arrange with - creating soft shapes and adding curves and twirls.

This arrangement is a twist on a complementary colour palette - yellow and purple - which sit opposite one another on the colour wheel. The twist being the introduction of ginger and lime. On the one hand these make the whole combination more muted and nuanced, but on the other they enliven it and create a mouth-wateringly delicious concoction from the spring garden. Colour is what makes arranging flowers so incredibly fun and creative - we’ve dedicated an online class to this fascinating subject in the course Elements of Design.

Sweetie

VINCA, COWSLIPS & FAIRY WINGS

A handful of pinky-purple Vinca ‘Jenny Pym’ with delicate spring flowers and foliage in a mixed complementary palette of mauve, pale yellow, peach, apricot and enlivening pops of acid green.

APRIL

INGREDIENTS

Heuchera (coral bells)

Spiraea japonica ‘Golden Princess’ (Japanese spirea)

Vinca difformis ‘Jenny Pym’ (periwinkle)

Muscari (grape hyacinth)

Tulipa saxatalis ‘Lilac Bakeri’ (species tulip)

Narcissus ‘Sophie Girl’ & ‘Blushing Lady’ (daffodil)

Geranium (cranesbill)

Epimedium sulphureum & x warleyense (fairy wings)

VASE

Ceramic beaker from Baileys Home Store

NOTES

March and April are months when we see a wide range of tiny varieties blooming in the garden. This arrangement is a mingling of all these intricate, minuscule details. While I’m indifferent to larger tulips, I adore the species varieties and ‘Lilac Bakeri’ is one of them - it’s dainty and, when closed, looks just like an ordinary tulip in miniature. But then it opens in a radiant star shape to display a golden centre and it’s just magical.

It was fun to use Vinca for the first time - we are introducing perwinkles to the garden as ground cover. Their rooting shoots mean they spread swiftly and create great mats of ground cover to suppress weeds. ‘Jenny Pym’ is a lovely variety, a cool mauve-pink with a distinctive white fade. It flowers from late autumn and will continue to bloom all the way through a mild winter into spring.

I love the Epimedium too - it has a slew of common names ranging from the romantic ‘fairy wings’ to the rather less flattering ‘barrenwort’, ‘horny goat’s beard’ and ‘randy beef grass’ and is used in Chinese herbal medicine to treat sexual dysfunction, cancers, osteoporosis and heart problems. In the spring and autumn the leaves take on red tints that are lovely in small arrangements. The species name warleyense is derived from Warley Place, the home of the famous gardener Miss Ellen Willmott. If you haven’t read it, we highly recommend Miss Willmott's Ghosts: the extraordinary life and gardens of a forgotten genius - a fascinating read.

Tableau

IRIS, FOXGLOVE, MEADOW RUE

A stem (or two) of all the gorgeous flowers in the garden as spring saunters toward summer.

MAY

INGREDIENTS

Nectaroscordum siculum (Sicilian honey garlic)

Deutzia x hybrida ‘Mont Rose’

Macleaya cordata (plume poppy)

Iris hollandica ‘Red Ember’ (Dutch iris)

Iris sibirica ‘Dance Ballerina Dance’ (Siberian iris)

Digitalis albiflora (foxglove)

Thaictrum delavayi (meadow rue)

Lathyrus ‘Heavenscent’, ‘Chocolate Flake’ & ‘Nelly Viner’ (sweet pea)

Papaver rhoeas (field poppy)

Silene dioica (red campion)

Centaurea cyanus ‘Classic Fantastic’ (cornflower)

Tulbaghia violacea (society garlic)

Ranunculus acris (buttercup)

Anemone coronaria ‘The Bride’ (wind flower)

Rosa ‘Desdemona’ (rose)

Viburnum opulus (snowball tree)

Geranium phaeum ‘Album’ (cranesbill)

VASE

Glass troughs approx L30cm

Kenzans of assorted sizes

NOTES

Simply and quickly arranged in glass ‘troughs’ using pinholders to keep the flowers in place, this is a bit of an experiment but it proves an effective way to display the explosion of beauty happening right now in the garden after some much needed sunshine. Having the mechanics on show is not for everyone but I quite like to see what’s holding the flowers up - especially these gleaming gold and silver kenzans from Japan. It also negates the need for lots of filler and foliage at the base, which keeps the overall effect light and airy.

Delicacy

BUTTERCUPS & FRINGECUPS

The epitome of the garden as spring transitions to early summer: profusion, delicate details. A zingy base of lemon and lime, and a light touch of lilac.

MAY

INGREDIENTS

Clematis vitalba (wild clematis)

Spiraea japonica (Japanese spirea)

Polemonium (Jacob’s ladder)

Ranunculus acris (meadow buttercup)

Tellima grandiflora (fringecup)

VASE

Ceramic ‘Aesme Studio’ beaker

Small scrunch of chicken wire

NOTES

Do you remember, as a child, holding a buttercup beneath the chin of your friends to see if they liked butter? What a silly game - everyone likes butter!

Late spring is the best time to really zoom in and look at the unfurling beauty of the garden in all its intricacy. With this arrangement I include a mass of meadow buttercups and choose the other ingredients based on colour nuance, or movement - the Jacob’s ladder have beautifully variegated leaves, the fringe cups seem to wiggle and dance.

A tip: buttercups tend to droop when they are cut. I condition them, straight after harvesting, by stripping any unnecessary foliage and searing for a few seconds in just-boiled water. Within a few hours they perk right up.