BLACK IRIS, POPPY LEAF, FRITILLARY
MARCH
Vase with a tenmoku glaze by Made in Cley
Black iris (Iris tuberosa)
Daffodil (Narcissus 'Polar Hunter' & Narcissus cordubensis)
Poppy (Papaver rhoeas 'Amazing Grey')
Radde's fritillary (Fritillaria raddeana)
Rose (Rosa 'Rambling Rector')
After hellebores the Narcissi are the first flowers to really start coming through from the garden in any quantity, early spring, accompanied in dribs and drabs by anemones, squill, black or widow iris and fritillaries. ‘Polar Hunter’ is among the eager frontrunners - strongly perfumed, long stemmed, multi-headed in a green-tinted white. I’ve paired it with the miniature Fernandes daffodil - a fragrant jonquil variety with much smaller flower heads and shorter stems. But this confident little flower seems to hold her own, especially in clusters. The golden petals are slightly curved and twisted, warranting a closer look and then you catch the scent… I like the way 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.
