DESICCATED BLACKBERRY
FEBRUARY
Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)
Couch grass (Elymus repens)
Cowslip (Primula veris)
Dwarf daffodil (Narcissus 'Tête-à-tête’)
Goose grass (Galium aparine)
Ivy (Hedera helix)
Netted iris (Iris reticulata ‘Katherine’s Gold’)
Peat moss (Sphagnum girgensohnii )
Japanese hand-painted tea-bowl (approx. 10cm diameter)
Kenzan
Foraged botanical treasure in a Japanese tea-bowl featuring intricate bramble stems with the desiccated, rusty berries still clinging to thorny branches.
Flower arranging in miniature - an experiment! Using the first radiant yellow flowers, their stem-length not exceeding 15 centimetres, I search the cutting garden for interesting seasonal ingredients to combine them with and find them at the periphery - wispy grasses, trails of ivy and a perfectly preserved dried blackberry bramble leftover from the autumn. Always worth a quick scan of the hedgerow.
A tip: use a small handful of moss to conceal your flower frog or chicken wire supporting the taller stems. It makes for a fragrant, textural ‘filler’.