Decorate your Door this Spring
Spring at last and a long with tidying the garden ready for the season, it’s also time to decorate my door and literally shout out ‘hurrah’ for Spring. There is nothing more welcoming or cheery than a living Spring wreath decorated with bulbs, violas and primulas to welcome visitors. The Garden centres are bursting with Spring plants so you can be as adventurous as you want with colours and shapes. I chose the smallest pots of delicate pale yellow violas and primroses that I could find, the tiniest narcissus with bulbs attached and some pots of ivy.
A Spring Garden in a Wreath
I’ve been wanting to make a living spring wreath for a while and was uncertain as to how long it would last or how robust it would be. It can be pretty chilly in March and April and the North wind can literally take apart a wreath overnight. I’ve often found bits of my Christmas wreath up and down the village. So this wreath had to be robust whilst still looking pretty and Spring-like too. I wanted it to reflect the season and have a look of the hedgerow too.
What You will Need
I used a mossed up wire frame. In fact I repurposed my Christmas wreath and didn’t change the moss. As I wanted my wreath to look slightly like a birds nest I foraged along the hedgerows for some dried goosegrass, but you could use straw. Next I tied this on to the frame. Very securely, but not too neatly, just as a birds nest might look. You could use straw or any dried grasses. Or just leave it out completely.
Now for the fun part. I foraged for catkin twigs, but any fine twiggy stems will do. Again this is optional, but I wanted a natural hedgerow look to mine, slightly wild around the edges. Cut the stems at a sharp angle and poke in to the moss. You can tie them on, but you might not need to if they feel secure.
Your chosen flower pots should be well watered. I gave mine a really good soak beforehand. Decant them out of the pots and wrap individually in moss. You can do this quite tightly to make the rootball as small as possible before tying on to the wreath. Infill the gaps with any moss.
And now you can decorate. I’ve used plum blossom and some Polar Ice narcissus. you could use water filled flower tubes to prolong the life of these, again wrapped in moss. Otherwise, be prepared to swap out bits and pieces every few days for something else.
Looking after your Living Spring Wreath
Remember to dead head the plants to make them last as long as possible. As the plants are alive they will need to be watered every few days too. Just lay flat on the ground and spritz or water the root ball gently .
Styling in Spring
Spring is a beautiful time to style and photograph flowers. An abundance of daffodils, tulips, blossom and ranunculus can provide endless colour combinations and are beautiful to photograph. You can read Spring Styling ideas in a previous post here
My seasonal April Spring class is sold out now, but I am planning another in June. Do email me if you are interested in recieving the details of this one.
I hope you have a chance to get the camera out and enjoy being creative this month.
Happy Spring to you all,
Janne x
