The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
A guide to four-seasons floristry
Winter doesn’t have to mean we turn our backs on the garden – grow shrubs and plants to cut and enjoy inside, says Clare Coulson
The shortest days of the year may be behind us but it can still feel like a grim couple of months before the garden really springs into life. Yet the winter can be made more joyful if there are stems and flowers to cut. And as the idea of a four seasons garden has caught on, and as we celebrate plants in all their stages, so too has the idea of four seasons floristry.
The emphasis and appreciation of seasonal blooms is echoed in the number of growers and florists who now hold workshops on the subject; the Norfolk School of Gardening (norfolkschoolofgardening.co.uk) hosts a winter cutting garden course as well as one on planting for year-round colour. And florists, including London-based Frida Kim (fridakim.com), Brigitte Girling (mossandstone.co.uk) in Suffolk and Sarah Statham (simplybyarrangement.co.uk) in Yorkshire, all run masterclasses in making the most of flowers and foliage during the coldest months.
If you plan well for winter, there is always something to cut to bring inside and beautify the house; not the lush armfuls of late spring and summer but, by tweaking what we expect from a bowl or vase, we can appreciate a different kind of beauty, particularly in the gnarly forms of bare branches. Treat these as the Japanese do in ikebana arrangements, and focus on a single branch with a beautiful shape or interesting form – you can secure this with a kenzan or flower frog in a shallow bowl or dish. It can be as simple as a single branch covered in lichen or a winter flowering shrub such as Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’, which has beautiful pink buds that open to blush flowers with a marzipan scent.
Prunus can also be cut and displayed in a similar way; the winter flowering cherry, Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’, has delicate blush flowers on dark stems while Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’ – the cherry plum – has pretty flowers early in spring. For more of a colour punch, the flowering Japanese apricot Prunus mume ‘Beni Chidori’ unfurls its dazzling hot pink blossom from February.
But branches – whether in bud or in flower – can also create an interesting backdrop to early spring flowers. For Christin Geall, whose first book, Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style, is published this spring, winter presents plenty of opportunities. “I use branches of star magnolia as the buds look like pussy willows, the bark is a lovely clean beige and the buds evoke promise. Pressed into a pin frog they make an excellent structure for sappier stems like hyacinths.”
Some stems of the yellow flowered Cornus mas or the spicy-scented, starry cup flowers of wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) can be used in a similar way. The witch hazels (Hamamelis) grouped along tables or on mantels. Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ is one of the best grasses both outside and inside during the winter. Pictured, it is simply grouped in a low bowl, and pushed into a metal Kenzan/ pin frog.
Honesty seed heads (Lunaria – see left) are much used, and much loved by florists. They provide a delicate touch to any table centre and reflect candle light perfectly.
HOW TO USE EVERGREENS
Don’t overlook evergreen foliage which can also be cut to create imposing arrangements over winter; paler leafed evergreens such as eucalyptus or olive can feel more uplifting with their bluish tones.
“En masse,” says Statham, “in a large vase evergreens can look superb, especially if the right vessel is found, and perhaps set upon a piece of material such as deep blue velvet.”
But she also suggests making small displays to bring some joy to winter tables: “Tiny wreath rings of heather, skimmia, box, clematis seed and honesty make very effective place settings.”
They look beautiful on a restrained winter table but when it’s time to go home guests also have a gift that they can take away too.
with their spidery blooms and spicy scent can also be cut and displayed alone or with contrasting flowers such as narcissi. They come in a choice of dazzling colours from acidic yellows (H x intermedia ‘Barmstedt Gold’) through to rusty oranges (‘Jelena’) and ruby red (‘Diane’). But these zingy colours can be a tricky to manage: “Yellow is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment, but that hasn’t made it any easier to use witch hazel, forsythia, daffodils, and other strong early spring yellows,” says Geall. “Try combining them with other intense colours, like flowering quince, golden contorted willow, red dogwood branches, or set them singing with citrus.”
In her 1937 book Flowers in House and Garden, Constance Spry suggests bringing an entire potted shrub inside to enjoy the flowers – and cites one friend who buys shrubs in bud in winter or early spring and enjoys them in the house before planting them out – it requires some careful planning (and a cool spot in the house) but it’s a clever way to enjoy a new plant up close before it goes to its permanent spot in the garden. She also suggests clustering scented pelargoniums from the garden or greenhouse in the house where they can overwinter. (Incidentally, Spry’s Winter & Spring Flowers is also a great source of inspiration for combinations and designs for winter arrangements).
When cutting from the garden, sometimes the trick is in how you treat a plant once you bring it indoors. Geall is a fan of two shrubs, Garrya elliptica and Stachyurus praecox, which both have unusual trailing pale racemes (or catkins in the case of the garrya). “I love the tassel-like blooms. Both of these plants deserve more attention,” she says. But to get the best from the garrya she removes its leaves. “Just pare back the plant to petal and bark. It suits the austerity of early winter somehow.”
Geall advises the same treatment for the intoxicating, clove-scented Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ – the waxy, pale pinkish white flowers are the main event with this plant rather than its glossy evergreen leaves. Like many winter flowers these delicate blooms are best appreciated up close (for example, on a bedside table) and look best in small bud vases which can be displayed singly or in groups of contrasting sizes and shapes. (Arket sells beautiful ceramic and glass bud vases; Sarah Raven has them in myriad shades).
Another must for cutting in winter are hellebores with their incredible range of colours (including really interesting greens, greys and corals). They too can look beautiful gathered in bud vases but they also work well when contrasted with other flowers and delicate grasses, bracken or seedpods.
“They go into nearly everything I make,” says Statham. “Their beauty is unsurpassed. They are as effective alone in a simple vase as they are with other winter flowers such as ranunculus in a table centre or bouquet. They are the one thing I would plant if I had to choose only one winter plant. Brought inside in pots they are also spectacular.”
With a bit of planning you can coordinate your hellebores for cutting with whatever blossom you have in the garden – for example the zingy pink blossom of the Japanese apricot mentioned above looks fabulous with pink tinged hellebores such as Helleborus x hybridus ‘Harvington Apricot’.
If you plan well, there is always something to bring inside to beautify the house