PAULA PRYKE
We asked florist-to-the-stars Paula how she turns her Suffolk home into a magical grotto.
Iadore colour; it’s my motivating force for being a floral designer – so I like a bright Christmas, lots of lights and candles and a little bit of sparkle. You want Christmas to be special for your guests, but you also want to have time to enjoy it all and, most importantly, spend time with your family.
I mix it up; sometimes I do real trees and sometimes artificial. Fake ones are very effective now and the lights are often integral to the tree, which makes for a much better result! Having picked out trees for many clients over the years and even decorated trees in Downing Street, I can tell you that a good-shaped tree is very important.
I always want scented flowers at Christmas and so I like to have freesias, paperwhites or hyacinths for the kitchen and bathrooms and also massive jasmine plants. There are always some planted phalaenopsis orchids in my house, too. Big vases are filled with amaryllis and Ilex with euphorbia fulgens in either white or red. Table flowers vary each year but they usually involve roses or ranunculus with skimmia, hypericum and holly. Roses and tulips are great and long lasting and carnations are having a big comeback.
On Christmas Eve, we usually cook our gammon joint with a Mary Berry mango glaze and eat it with jacket potatoes and mint and mango salsa. On Christmas Day I tend to go with Delia Smith recipes. We have a free-range bronze Suffolk turkey from a farm we know and my mum’s stuffing is made from herbs and Suffolk sausage meat. I’ll make an orange cheesecake, and having a good board of wonderful cheeses is essential.
‘Christmas is a time for fantasy and tradition – it’s why I love the season!’