AUTUMN

Late summer and spicy pops of red and pink sizzle among the garden beds, shimmering grasses sway and fruits ripen. The air hums with thousands of insects moving busily amongst the plants. Spoilt for choice, this is a time for abundant arrangements in flamboyant palettes, embracing jewel colours, crispy, fluffy and velvety textures and autumn leaves in all their glory - streaked, fading, freckled and beginning to fall.

 
AUTUMN RECIPES
SILVERBERRY & GOLDEN OATS
SILVERBERRY & GOLDEN OATS

November is a great time for finding metallic ingredients and hunting through the garden for materials with a bit of a sheen to the flowers or leaves. Seed pods are a satisfying textural element - we tend to harvest them around now before it gets too wet

VOLCANIC SORREL, CRABAPPLE
VOLCANIC SORREL, CRABAPPLE

Late October. It’s a glorious time of year in the garden, as the season gently winds down it is positively smouldering and flickering with fiery leaves and fruits.

ROSEHIP, CHRYSANTHEMUM, ASTER
ROSEHIP, CHRYSANTHEMUM, ASTER

On a chilly autumn day, a warming bowl of sumptuous colour and texture. Dahlias can be challenging to use in small arrangements so I chose the tinest variety we grow (also my favourite) ‘Lismore Carol’.

ELDER, CRABAPPLE, HYDRANGEA
ELDER, CRABAPPLE, HYDRANGEA

Clematis vitalba is a wild clematis that grows like mad throughout the hedgerows and countryside surrounding our cutting garden in Hampshire. It is so vigorous that in some countries it is considered an invasive species.

GUERNSEY LILY, RIVER LILY
GUERNSEY LILY, RIVER LILY

This is the time of year when we enjoy the autumn flowering bulbs and corms planted in the spring - nerines, flag lilies, anemones and gladioli.

WINDSWEPT WILD ROSE
WINDSWEPT WILD ROSE

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.

ACER, BAMBOO, NASTURTIUM
ACER, BAMBOO, NASTURTIUM

At this time of year the leaves on all the deciduous plants in the garden are displaying the most incredible colours. It's a beautiful sight for us to enjoy but of course there is a scientific reason.

Arranging flowers is experimental and joyful, a chance to be in the moment. As such, these recipes are not intended to be replicated stem by stem. We hope to encourage you to embrace seasonality wherever you are in the world, using what is available from your garden, local florist, flower or farmers’ market, and to introduce you to some special plants along the way. For reference we grow flowers in Hampshire, UK (hardiness zone USDA 8/RHS H4) with a mixture of outdoor and tunnel planting.