A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
I love using wildflowers in naturalistic floral arrangements and grow as many as possible in my own garden so that
I am free to pick as desired. This arrangement was inspired by a walk down my local country lanes in May where the hedgerows are lined with billowing clouds of cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris, exuding a light and airy feel. I’ve combined this iconic umbellifer with several Adiantum ferns and a trio of blues from the borage family to add some sparkle to the mix.
How to achieve the look
This handsome wooden crate houses ten chunky soda bottles, but for this display I replaced seven of them with maidenhair ferns in 1L pots and three with cut flowers in glass vases, anchoring the arrangement with a row of Victorian clay ink pots.
A selection of tall, cow parsley stems adds height, and I picked those with the darkest purple stems to match the roseflushed buds of the Clematis montana. These provide a link to the almost-black stems of the maidenhair fern, whose fresh virescent tones add a sense of depth to the display.
Green alkanet, Pentaglottis sempervirens, and Siberian bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla, provide a drift of bright blue that is subtly enhanced by the chalkier blue of forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica. This arrangement will last nearly two weeks in a cool conservatory out of direct sunlight with regular misting and changes of water in the vases. The ferns appreciate high humidity and should be kept well watered during the growing season.
All the flowers used in this display are prolific self-seeders so need careful management to stop them taking over your garden. The hairy leaved alkanet can be found flowering along woodland edges so is happy in part shade while the bugloss makes a great groundcover plant. I cut both hard back in June and July, after their initial flowering to refresh and keep them in check. Myosotis sylvatica also copes well with shade, readily seeding about but is easy to pull out where not required.
How to achieve the look
A glazed Victorian wash bowl, is ideal for this flamboyant display. It has no drainage holes, so won’t leak on to furniture, but will need careful watering. To begin, I lined the bowl with expanded clay pellets to absorb excess water then added a propriety houseplant compost mixed with extra charcoal. I placed the houseplants in the compost but kept the cheese plant ( Monstera deliciosa) in its own pot for ease of removal, as it will quickly outgrow the display. Finally, I sank four thinnecked glass vases in the gaps, before top dressing with additional clay pellets.
The aspidistra copes well with shade, as do the other houseplants, inlcuding x Fatshedera lizei ‘Pia’, a cross between Fatsia japonica and Hedera helix. I placed two trailing peperomia at the front of the bowl to cascade over the lip. For foliar contrast I added a maidenhair and an asparagus fern.
The clean lines of the polygonatum’s tall, arching stems embellished with pendent flowers sits perfectly above the fading flowers of Helleborus x sahinii ‘Winterbells’, which take on a greener hue with age. The ridged, clean stems of Equisetum hyemale add a vertical contrast to the composition.
The arrangement needs a spot away from direct sunlight and regular misting. Overwatering is often the cause of a plant’s demise, so always check the compost before watering. If you don’t trust your finger use a water indication stick. Houseplants benefit from a weekly balanced liquid feed in the growing season, but too much nitrogen can lead to weak sappy growth.