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.

Feels like spring is finally on the way! This week in the studio - waves of bright yellow Forsythia, scented Ribes and velvety widow iris.

With the vernal equinox it is officially spring. To celebrate, a sculptural curation of branches just unfurling their first leaves.

We cannot sing the praises of Epimedium enough! We grow many different varieties in the cutting garden and they are low-maintenance, tough, excellent ground cover.