Festive flourishes

Entertain in style this Christmas with ideas for natural decorations from Swallows & Damsons

- ANNA POTTER

Is there anything so peaceful as a deep winter's day? There's a crispness that clears the senses. The land breathes; there is rest above and deep rumblings of unseen preparation below. Winter begins like a dark, ancient womb that nourishes and protects, encouraging a different pace; to slow right down, allowing one act to end and, behind the big velvet curtain of November, for a scene change to take place.

With the limitations and scarcity of flowers at this time in the year, I notice that a deeper kind of seeing kicks in. To keep making and creating arrangements, we rely on more than the obvious showy blooms of the other more fruitful seasons. I love shy winter for choosing ingredients that would usually be overlooked or overshadowed by the more dominant, obvious flowers. Subtle hues in blues and greys of spruce, juniper and cedar. Mosses and pine cones, rose hips, crab apples and ligustrum berries all bring punches of colour, and then there's the tenacious little flowers that grow among the harshest conditions, like hellebores and snowdrops.

The arrangements I've demonstrated here vary from simple, using just a few choice blooms and stems, to grander displays. Some use plants that are not necessarily seasonal, but UK-grown flowers should be available from florists in December. There's also the option at this time of year to cut out flowers completely and just replicate nature and what's happening outside by using foliage and seedheads with interesting hues and textures, gnarly lichen-covered branches and vibrant berries, mixed with a few late winter or early spring blooms, such as hellebores and anemones. There are plenty of inventive ways to bring wintered nature into the heart of the home for the festive season.

Hanging hedgerow cloud