Winter Crafts

inspiring you
Cut
and dried
Make the most of winter
shrubs, flowers and stems,
says Naomi Slade
The damp winter garden is
starting to show signs of
life, the days are getting a
little longer and there’s a
great opportunity to fill your home
with beauty, scent and interest.
Using plants on our doorstep
to create a seasonal arrangement
is both practical and sustainable.
When pruning back perennial
seed heads and grasses, fruit trees,
shrubs and evergreens, it makes
perfect sense to use the plant
material to decorate our homes.
Back in fashion
UK-grown flowers have seen a huge
boom in the last couple of years,
with organisations such as Flowers
from the Farm (flowersfromthefarm.
co.uk), which represents local flower
farmers in the UK, reporting
huge enthusiasm for their
products. Floristry fans
are tuning in to twigs and
seed heads, dry leaves and
grasses as as flowers. The
crispy brown specimens of
the Seventies are a thing
of the past; flowers can be picked at
their peak, dried to maintain colour,
and crafted into arrangements.
Forsythia
adds
welcome
colour
HOW TO FORCE STEMS
■ Many spring-flowering
trees and shrubs can be
encouraged into early
bloom by cutting them
and bringing them
inside such as apple and
pear, forsythia, flowering
currant, amelanchier
and chaenomeles or
Japanese quince, along
with pussy willow and
hazel catkins.
■ Look for stems that
have plenty of fat,
round flower buds, then
put them into a bucket
of water rather than
throwing them in the
compost bin.
■ Choose a heavy
vase, cut each stem
at a 45-degree angle
and submerge to
avoid air bubbles.
Keep the vase in a
cool place, away from
radiators and direct
sunlight and mist
regularly to maintain
humidity. Change the
water every few days
to maintain freshness.
Pretty apple
and pear
blossom
■ Leave
surplus stems in their
bucket, in a cool shed or
garage, bringing them
out in batches to force
over a period of weeks.
YOURS EVERY FORTNIGHT
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