An early spring arrangement with narcissi, wallflowers and hellebores

An Early Spring Arrangement with Narcissi, Wallflowers & Hellebores

March is the first month in the year when you can go into your garden and pick a decent sized bouquet. Using a Nero vase to display your blooms, you'll be able to make an arrangement fit for the centre of any spring table.

Why the 'Nero' Vase Is So Useful:

• you always want a flaring neck so that your blooms fall naturally
• a vase with a belly will help you to create more flexibility within your arrangement
• a vase with a narrow bottom will allow you to wedge stems into the bottom of it and create the structure for your arrangement.

How to Build the Base for Your Arrangement

I have silver birch trees growing in my garden, and at this time of year the new growth is very pliable. To form the structure of my arrangement, I take some of the branches, bend them below the water line and create a sort of nest for the rest of my stems.

If you don't have access to silver birch stems, you can also use chicken wire, but using natural materials like young branches will help to create a more natural-looking arrangement.

Putting in the Artichoke Stems

Artichoke stems are one of the biggest and showiest leaves you will find at this time of year. I sear my artichoke leaves in boiling water, which will help them to last longer in your arrangement - generally between 10 days and two weeks.

These artichoke leaves are new-growth leaves, as the overwintered leaves of artichokes are generally battered by winter storms. Artichokes and cardoons are very tolerant of having their leaves removed, so you can continue to take them throughout the year.

#### How to Sear Your Stems:

• plunge 5-10% of your stem into boiling water
• the stem will become a bit discoloured but this is nothing to worry about
• by searing your stem you are increasing the surface area of water absorption.

Adding in the Willow

This variety of willow is called Salix purpurea 'Nancy Saunders' and it has a very fine, delicate stem with red-coloured bark.

By threading this into your silver birch structure you'll be able to create height within your arrangement and also build into the middle of it.

Filler Foliage

To create some more texture and interest in my arrangement I'm adding in two different types of foliage: a kale 'red boar' stem and a few stems of a dwarf red-leaved variety of pittosporum.

At this time of year you have to be quite inventive with the sources of your foliage, so consider raiding your veg patch or looking at your perennial shrubs for inspiration.

Just a few of these stems at the front of the arrangement will provide texture, colour and shape.

Adding the Flowers

THE BRIDE FLOWER IN THIS ARRANGEMENT IS: Fritillaria 'Raddeana'

THE THREE BRIDESMAIDS ARE:

• Narcissus 'Avalanche'
• Narcissus 'Jack Snipe'
• Narcissus 'Princess Amalia'

THE GATECRASHERS ARE:

• Hellebores
• A wallflower that has been forced in the greenhouse

#### How to Condition a Hellebore:

• pick a stem that has at least one flower that has already gone to seed, this means that lignin has started to build up in the cell walls of the stem, which makes the stem more rigid
• sear around 20% of the stem in boiling water for around 5 seconds and then take it straight out and put it into cold water
• if the blooms were really fresh, i would submerge the stems in a sink full of water overnight, but if some of the flowers have gone to seed, this step isn't necessary
• if some of the stems flop once they are in your arrangement, put them in the bath overnight and they with come back to life.

Adding the Last Details

Once the main vase is finished, arrange smaller milk bottle sized arrangements around your central vase. These will complement and add contrast to your central arrangement.

To fill these milk bottles I have used Narcissus 'Rip Van Winkle' and Pansy Matrix™Sangria.