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.