PETTICOAT DAFFODIL, ROSE LEAF
FEBRUARY
Christmas rose (Helleborus x hybridus ‘Harvington Black’, ‘Harvington White Speckled’, ‘Merlin’)
Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Elka’)
Greater woodrush (Luzula sylvatica)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Netted iris (Iris reticulata ‘Blue’ and ‘Katherine’s Gold’)
Petticoat daffodil (Narcissus bulbicodium)
Aesme Studio Seika bowl
Small cap of chicken wire
Black (or almost-black) flowers can be challenging because they can look like dark holes in an arrangement, especially in dim light. The early- blooming, pale lemon daffs and iris are a good foil - soft but also picking up the yellow stamens of the hellebores. To bridge the gap I ensure the other ingredients are muted and dusky - plum hellebores and the small grey leaves of honeysuckle which are just beginning to unfurl.
We transplanted the woodrush to our cutting garden from our parents’ old garden in Oxford and they are now thriving in the damp shade of a tree, happily ensconced among ferns.
Tips: Once you’ve finished placing flowers use up any leafy off-cut stems to fill in holes around the edges of your arrangement - waste not, want not.