BEA ANDREWS
Bea is a horticulturist by heart. “I have been working with plants and flowers for more than 20 years, but using them in displays has opened up a whole new world that I am still passionately exploring,” she says. Bea worked as head gardener with Sarah Raven at her East Sussex farm, Perch Hill, where she was able to have the opportunity to indulge her enthusiasm for growing a wide variety of flowers and experiment with design. More recently, she set up Botanika, a small independent studio based in Hassocks, West Sussex, where she creates floral displays that reflect the seasons, using natural elements, interesting textures and pleasing colour combinations. She offers tailor-made arrangements for weddings and also holds workshops to teach others how to design their own.
s a gardener and floral designer, I have always been attracted to wild and naturalistic planting schemes and relaxed, garden-like flower compositions. Nature has a wealth of patterns to observe and imitate, and, by capturing its magic, incorporating the best available wild and cultivated plants, you are on the right path. In this four-part series, I will be looking at different projects, encapsulating the essence of each season with a few simple, easy-to-find elements that will enable you to create your own arrangement.
At this time of year, there is a generous offering of foraged goods on hand when it comes to more naturalistic flower arranging. Country lanes are gloriously awash with froths of cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris). Also known as Queen Anne’s lace, this dainty little early summer wild flower can make a great impression, as it grows in large numbers from April to June. In the Sussex woods, near where I live, it is joined by the fresh, vivid greens of hazel and the large arching, highly divided stems of our native British fern or bracken (Pteridium aquilinum).
If you missed out on the cow parsley season, a succession of similar lacy wild flowers can be found throughout summer. The elegant, upright hedge parsley (Torilis japonica), with its daintier flower heads, appears later in July and August, closely followed by the wild carrot (Daucus carota) in late summer, going into September. None of these plants should be confused with their highly poisonous cousin, the hemlock (Conium maculatum), which boasts similar white frothy, lacy flower heads, but it’s a much taller plant with purple blotched stems. Cow parsley can be tricky when picked at an early stage. Its vase life improves with age, once the stems become stronger and darker. Searing the stems in boiling water for a few seconds prolongs the endurance of the arrangement. See overleaf for instructions on how to create a beautiful seasonal arrangement for your summer table.