Cutting from the garden in spring - Part 3: Guelder rose, euphorbia, currants and artichokes

Cutting from the Garden in Spring

Part 3: Guelder Rose, Euphorbia, Currants and Artichokes

Shrubs are low-maintenance and can be very useful for cutting in the spring. We have become quite passionate about them and have many varieties in our gardens.

Viburnum opulus (common name: guelder rose) is one of our favourites. It is a showy plant with a relaxed look and bright lime-green flowers. We cut armfuls of it for arrangements. As guelder rose prefers alkaline soil, we don't find they do well in areas where camellias and rhododendrons flourish. We find they suit the wilder parts of the garden, in shrubberies and hedgerows. We plant guelder rose, like most shrubs, between November and March.

Chaenomeles (common name: quince) is another spring shrub that looks good when in flower but is less interesting for the rest of the year, so we plant it further back in the garden.

Euphorbia (common name: milkweed) is our other all-time favourite foliage plant. We grow Euphorbia oblongata and pick from it throughout the summer. It's an easy and very useful plant.

OUR ADVICE:

• When shrubs are in flower, celebrate them by cutting them and bringing them indoors.
• Cut Euphorbia down just above the ground in late July when the flowers start forming seeds; they will develop new, green growth by September.
• Safety note: Euphorbia produces a sap that can irritate your skin, so you should always wear gloves when picking it for arrangements.

Currants are easy to grow and are both decorative and productive. They form bushy shrubs with wonderful foliage and produce edible red, white and black berries. If you buy and plant a currant bush in winter, it will bear fruit by early June. Currants also root easily from cuttings.

We like using lots of fruits and vegetables in our arrangements and we especially enjoy artichokes for their foliage. We grow artichokes from seed in February/March, then pick young leaves the following spring and harvest the edible artichokes in the summer. Artichoke leaves make a great statement in mixed arrangements and are impressive on their own, but you must remember to sear their stems in boiling water after picking.

We also grow Cynara cardunculus (common name: cardoon), a plant that's similar to artichokes but is taller and appears later in the season. It has attractive grey foliage in summer and produces decorative pods in autumn. Cardoons give height and structure to arrangements.

An Early Spring Flower Arrangement

In this lesson we are making a bright, all-green, spring flower arrangement composed of Euphorbia oblongata, apple mint, currant and guelder rose.

To prolong the vase life of Euphorbia, we first sear their ends for five seconds in boiling water. Apple mint brings a wonderful smell, and the branches of currant add interest to the arrangement with their bright-green leaves and new, tiny berries. We've completed the arrangement with guelder rose (Viburnum opulus), which comes in different varieties and is as wonderful in mixed arrangements as it is on its own. To add a final touch of lightness to the arrangement, we've inserted a flowering sprig of tellima - a ground-covering perennial that we grow in shady areas of the garden.

Top Tips

• An all-green arrangement will brighten any room in late spring.
• Use spring foliage generously and remember to strip the lower leaves before putting stems in the water.
• The leaves of certain plants, such as Philadelphus and Syringa (common name: lilac), tend to flop after they are cut, so it's best to strip off most of them before adding branches to an arrangement.
• Collect old ceramic jugs, which work really well with all-green arrangements.

Plant Directory

Euphorbia oblongata

common name: egg leaf spurge

Philadelphus

common name: mock orange

Ribes

common name: currant

Syringa

common name: lilac

Tellima

common name: tellima

Viburnum opulus

common name: guelder rose