It won’t be long before I’ll start thinking about making the Christmas wreath – having one that’s homemade is a long family tradition. However, it seems limiting this floral celebration to just Advent is an opportunity missed. As A Year of Flower Wreaths beautifully shows, wreaths are not just for Christmas.
Swedish florist and photographer Malin Björkholm guides us through a year of making wreaths to celebrate the changing seasons, using bought and foraged materials in a natural, modern style.
(I was given a review copy in return for a fair review.)
Starting with a simple wreath of twigs to surround spring bulbs, she takes us on a journey through the months with projects that will make the most of what’s flowering or looking good – wreaths don’t need to have flowers and many are made using just contrasting foliage.
Each project has clear, numbered instructions, a list of materials and plants or foliage needed, and a series of step-by-step photos to make it easy to follow. There’s also a picture of the finished wreath so you know what it should look like! In addition, the projects are graded as to their level of difficulty – Malin advises a classic Advent wreath on a straw base as a good starting point for beginners.
While many are what are traditionally termed wreaths, there are also more unusual and innovative ideas. These include the ‘test tube wreath’ for displaying cut flowers, a wreath with upside down amaryllis flowers (mounting them that way means you can pour water into their hollow stems to keep them fresh), and asymmetrical designs. I liked the idea of wrapping a wreath base in the velvety foliage of Stachys byzantina, or lamb’s ear.
Not all wreaths are designed to be hung on a wall or door with some, such as the Rosehip Candle Lantern Wreath, for display on tables. Some projects are wreaths in little more than shape – a circular ring vase of sweet peas; using a ring-shaped flower frog to arrange cut flowers around the edge of a circular bowl; putting tiny flowers in eggshells.
As well as these projects, A Year of Flower Wreaths is woven through with good advice: remembering when choosing a base that it will end up bigger after adding flowers and foliage, for example. There are explanations of materials and tools, tips on how to dry flowers and fruit, suggestions for how long wreaths will last and what to buy, what to forage (with the rules on picking from the wild) and how to choose. Photographs of suggested plant material make it easy to follow.
Malin admits that she always has secateurs or a knife to hand: “You never know what pretty things you might come across.”
This book will show you how to turn them into circular works of art.
A Year of Flower Wreaths by Malin Björkholm is published by Batsford with an RRP of £20. You can buy it here for £17.13. (If you buy via this link, I receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.) Alternatively, you may wish to buy from an independent bookseller here. All prices correct at time of publication of this post.
Enjoyed this? You can read more of my gardening and garden-related book reviews here.
Make sure you don’t miss future posts by adding your name to my mailing list.