RASPBERRY PINK, GINGERY BROWN
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.
RASPBERRY PINK, GINGERY BROWN
MARCH
Daffodil (Narcissi)
Hellebore (Helleborus ‘Maestro’ & ‘Harvington White Speckled’)
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus ‘City of Bradford’ & ‘China Pink’)
Japanese maple (Acer)
Wood fern (Dryopteris)
A cream ceramic ‘curvy’ vase by James Burnett-Stuart
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.
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FIDDLENECK, EARTH SMOKE
Phacelia is a recent discovery for us and we are enchanted! Other commons names are blue tansy, heliotrope and scorpion weed.
FIDDLENECK, EARTH SMOKE
APRIL
Beauty bush (Kolkwitzia)
Blackberry bramble (Rubus)
Coral bells (Heuchera)
Cranesbill (Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’)
Earth smoke (Fumaria officinalis)
Fiddleneck (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
Fringe cups (Tellima grandiflora)
Pointed-petal fritillary (Fritillaria acmopetala)
Poppy (Papaver)
Rose (Rosa ‘Canary Bird’)
Aesme Studio ceramic bowl
Chicken wire
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.
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FAIRY WINGS AND PERIWINKLE
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.
FAIRY WINGS AND PERIWINKLE
APRIL
Coral bells (Heuchera)
Cranesbill (Geranium)
Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Sophie Girl’ & ‘Blushing Lady’)
Fairy wings (Epimedium sulphureum & x warleyense)
Grape hyacinth (Muscari)
Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Golden Princess’)
Periwinkle (Vinca difformis ‘Jenny Pym’)
Species tulip (Tulipa saxatalis ‘Lilac Bakeri’)
Ceramic beaker from Baileys Home Store
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.