I am delighted to be kicking off a brand new feature series on the blog this week on seasonal wreaths – I’m calling it wreaths throughout the seasons. Back in my teens I spent a couple of years living in America and it seemed that every season or holiday celebration houses would be decorated with wreaths. I have often thought it sad that we don’t do this more in the UK, and I found out my friend Alice at Lock Cottage Flowers shares my thoughts on this.

So we’ve decided to do something about it – Alice is going to be creating some lovely wreaths of all kinds to take us through the different seasons and holiday celebrations, and I’m going to be showcasing them here to inspire you on the blog. I even want to set myself a personal challenge to decorate my front door at least in some way to fit in with Alice’s posts, so watch this space.

Alice has even set up a hashtag on Instagram #11monthsofwreaths where seasonal wreaths can be posted that fit with our project guidelines below. We’ll be posting all of the wreaths shown here to that hashtag and hopefully more wreath makers will tag theirs as well – please join in.

Valentine’s – I’m sure many of you are well aware that this coming weekend is Valentine’s Day, so this week Alice has created a series of seasonal spring wreaths that are fit for Valentine’s Day or to bring a little cheer to your home this damp spring.

So over to Alice for more details…

Wreaths are not just for Christmas

Wreath making is my favourite form of floristry and one of the oldest so I think it’s a shame to just do Christmas wreaths and the occasional memorial wreath. Fortunately, a lot of brides order flower crowns (a type of wreath) or I’d go bananas waiting until December to be allowed to make them.

My rules for this project are:

1. No floral foam
2. Only British flowers and foliage used
3. Wreaths must be seasonal
4. Christmas wreaths will be excluded from this project

The first instalment that I’ll be sharing this week covers late winter and early spring:

How to make a hellebore moss winter wreath 

For this wreath I used pots of helleborus niger (the Christmas rose) which are good because the flowers face upwards along with cut flower stems of narcissus, snowflake (or snowdrops) and hawthorn blossom in floral tubes.

Swaddling the plants in moss

To make the potted plants less bulky, remove them from their pots, knock off half of the soil and trim the longer roots. This is the same treatment plants get when they are being re-potted. I then swaddled the rootball with moist (British) sphagnum moss. This makes a more compact rootball for incorporating into the wreath.

In the photo above, a swaddled hellebore is on the left and on the right are some narcissus in floral tubes. Cut the narcissus stems at a sharp angle so they can better poke through the rubber cap of the floral tube. Here then are two very good techniques for a foamless wreath: swaddling and tubing.

Maintaining your wreath

The sphagnum moss is the best moss to use here: it is lovely and loose, but retains moisture and has a terrific hairy texture that is very important to the design. The hellebore plants contain many emerging buds which will eventually flower (keep the wreath watered), and the tubes should be checked and topped up every couple of days (use an eyedropper).

Once the wreath is finished, you can pot up the hellebores and keep them for next winter (flowering time late December/January). The moss can be laid on some old log in a shady part of your garden where it will green up and provide shelter for insects. You can save the wire, wreath frame and floral tubes for another time and compost the rest.

Next up: Dainty and wild skinny wreaths for Valentine’s Day

Just a reminder to check out our hashtag #11monthsofwreaths on Instagram and please tag your seasonal, foam-free, British grown wreaths to this tag. We might even share some of your designs.

For more flowery fun you can follow Alice on her Instagram and Facebook page. Lock Cottage is one of our recommended suppliers on The Natural Wedding Company directory so do go and check out her page and if you’re a bride-to-be add her to your list of favourites by clicking the ‘heart’ icon next to her listing.

Photo of Alice: Emma Davies Photography