Autumn Berries & Foliage
Updated: Jun 19, 2018
It’s been a great autumn for colourful foliage and berries. This has to be one of my favourite bouquets of the season with the orange berries delicately peppering the burnt orange and grey foliage.
I really don't mind my bouquets not having any flowers in. There is such beauty in dried foliage and seed heads that I now keep an ample stock of miscellaneous dried “things” to hand and tend to add them into my bouquets even in times of full bloom. This of course it much to the amusement of my husband who actually now thinks I am barking mad – as he tries to duck out of the way of the latest 2m high dried seed heads or branches now adorning my dining/workroom.
Some of my favourite dried seeds heads this year are Gladioli as they have a rusty texture to them and the common Yucca whose seed heads turn almost black with age. Dried Fern, Pampas grass and Artichoke seed heads I use every year and come in handy as they are so readily available from my garden and plot.
Berries provide the colour as an antidote to the dried browns and help to lift the colours to another level. My favourite berry of autumn is the Snowberry. It’s so common to find in hedgerows and with variegated evergreen foliage and fir branches looks great. A little like miniature Christmas baubles - No flowers needed! Autumn brambles are always a delight to work with although you do need to be careful to cut from a thorn less cultivated variety and pick them while the berries are still hard to avoid crushing them and staining everything they come into contact with. I also use Ivy berries, Rosehips and firethorn in abundance.
Come Christmas in many areas the berries are gone – shrivelled and dried up or eaten by the birds and other wildlife. So I will ensure that I pick everything before the fade for the deepest winter.
For more info on the Fuchsia Blooms story check out my Blog FindingMyStyle.