Summer foliage
Frances Boscawen of Moat Farm Flowers in Suffolk offers a few suggestions for summer foliage to upsize and elevate your floral creations.
Whilst flowers are what we all love to talk about, they would be a lesser thing without beautiful foliage to show them off and to give them a natural and wild look. The choice of foliage gradually changes with the seasons but oak, beech, hornbeam and birch are my summer favourites for large arrangements.
This beautiful suspended garland showcases the impact of using foliage to balance flowers in floral installations
The impact of large installations is exciting and they are fun and challenging to make, from picking and conditioning the right foliage (and flowers!) to creating the final piece. I never think of it as ‘just foliage’ – big branches from a tree are a valuable resource and give a wonderful sense of natural bounty.
Including foliage is the perfect way to create a natural and romantic look
For finer work I love to use Osmanthus delavayii, jasmine foliage, scented geranium and pittosporum. Another mid-summer favourite are the long wands of Lonicera nidita.
Suspended floral hoops are a great way to soften the interior of marquees, and are easier to make more quickly and on a large scale when including plenty of foliage
