In The Moment

Flowers in the home are a luxury, but I think they’re also a necessity – I agree with Vita Sackville-West’s view that ‘A flowerless room is a soulless room’. A display that makes you smile is worth its weight in gold, and if you grow the blooms yours

When you’re given a gift of flowers, what’s the first thing you do? You bury your nose in them and inhale deeply. What we love about a bunch of flowers is the sensory experience – the colours, textures, shapes and luscious scent. But as well as that,

Ammi majus has lacy flowers, rather like a more delicate form of cow parsley. It’s the best white filler-foliage you can grow and is spectacular arranged in a great cloud on its own. Aim to pick it just before the tiny white flowers are fully open as

Rudbeckias make truly wonderful, very long-flowering cut flowers. Belonging to the sunflower family, they come in a sumptuous mix of mahogany, nutmeg, yellow and burnt marmalade colours. Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’ is one of my favourite flowers, with

Dahlias are the highlight of the late summer. Keep picking them and one dahlia tuber will produce hundreds of flowers. I grow dahlias in nearly all their shapes and forms, from delicate singles to the gravity-defying ‘dinner plate’ varieties. Dahlias

One of my favourites, Amaranthus caudatus produces long, soft tassels. You may have seen the widespread crimson version that gives it its common name but try the fresh, acid-green ‘Viridis’ as a much better mixer – it subtly enhances whites and blues

Panicum elegans is a beautiful, airy grass that forms great puffs of green. It’s one of the most productive foliage plants you can add to your cutting patch and one of the best upper-storey foliage plants for cutting. Just add three to five stems to

Snapdragons are invaluable for their full flower spikes, which last well over a week in water. Look out for the elegant, single-colour florist’s varieties and avoid dwarf forms (often sold as bedding plants) as the stem won’t be long enough for cutti

At Sarah Raven, we’ve put years of flower-growing and floristry experience into practice to create a range of seeds, plants and bulbs that will help you plant and care for your perfect flower patch. We’ve tested all our varieties in Sarah’s own garde

Euphorbia oblongata is the all-round best-looking, longest-flowering foliage plant you can find anywhere in the world. It forms the base of 95% of my floral arrangements, and lines most of the beds in my garden at Perch Hill. You never tire of its br

Sow as many sweet peas as you can. You won’t regret it – they’ll fill your life with colour and scent. Choosing which to grow is a task in itself, so start with monotone groups of your favourite colours – although, of course, sweet peas are more abou

∗ COSMOS ‘PURITY’ – the ever winning, ever productive cut flower classic. ∗ COSMOS ‘RUBENZA’ – shorter and therefore ideal for a pot or smaller garden. ∗ SALVIA VIRIDIS ‘BLUE’ – my replacement for lavender, which flowers for three times as long and l

As tempting as it might be to simply toss a selection of seeds into the soil for a random, ‘country meadow’ patch, a little planning will let you maximise the amount of flowers you can harvest, and will also keep your plants happy by ensuring they ha

Cultivating a flower patch is inexpensive and eco-friendly, so replacing plastic seedling pots with recycled paper versions is sure to appeal. Each pot takes less than two minutes to make, and when it’s time to plant out your seedlings you can simply

Think in manageable squares as even a small piece of ground can make you feel unsure where to start. For the sake of easy maths, I divide my patch into squares of 25x25cm. So my 2x2m plot becomes a grid of eight by eight squares. I draw this out on a

It’s the wettest day of the winter when we visit Hartley Farm near Bradford-on-Avon. We’ve come to meet Grace Farrimond, co-owner of Young Blooms, a gem of a florists adopted by the renowned farm shop. Almost there, we pass Grace’s growing patch, the

Beautiful and practical, this woven tote bag is just the thing to take into your flower patch to transport freshly picked blooms back to the house ready to be arranged. Sturdy and spaciously designed, each bag is individually handmade so no two are t

The process of making a flower arrangement involves many of the same principles that go into making fine art, and that’s why the term ‘painterly’ is how I like to describe my style of arranging. I can remember standing, transfixed, in front of Monet’

The vases we use for our arrangements are as important as the flowers we select to put into them. We look for containers, vessels and vases all over the place – car boots, charity shops, eBay, the flower market, antique shops, flea markets… When we w

Your choice of container is going to add so much to the look of any flower display you create. There are no rights or wrongs here – it’s good to go with what appeals to you and fits with the scale of your flowers. You’ll only need a few shapes to sta

As a flower writer and photographer, immersing myself in the incredible array of beautiful floral images on Instagram is something I just can’t resist. And to follow the personal stories of my favourite Instagrammers, week by week, is such a privileg

What’s so lovely about arranging in this shape container is that you can make the display quite low and place it as a centrepiece on a table, but also go taller and use it on a mantelpiece, bar or windowsill. We particularly like adding a splash of c

There’s a lot to be said for keeping your vases plain, to better show off the flowers within them, but this ingenious upcycling project shows how a decorated container can actually enhance your cut blooms. Designed by stylist Holly Becker, they’re a

“Seeds are the perfect gift for pretty much everyone. Tiny fragments of hope and potential and happiness waiting to happen.” So says psychologist turned seed supplier Grace Alexander, who truly understands the benefit of seed planting for our wellbei

Hand tying is one of the best floristry tricks you can learn. It’s a very satisfying way to make a bouquet that suits just about any type of flower so long as it has a decent stem length. Not only does it look stunning to give, it also makes life eas

So the decision is made, the wedding is on. The next question is, of course, ‘When?’. It’s rare that I come across couples who are married within six weeks (as I was). Most people have six months to a year of planning time. And six months will give y

Fresh petal confetti is a fantastic alternative to the shopbought, paper variety. It’s equally effective with a mix of shades and shapes or with just one colour. Flowers that work particularly well are roses, individual delphinium heads and sweet pea

This is what we call a blockbuster! If you’re celebrating an important event and want something a bit different and extra-special, then this is the one. It’s a great way to show off some of the best flowers of the season and really play with the stru

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Roses are arguably some of the best (I would say the best, of course) of all garden plants. After all, what else can potentially have a beautiful flower, a wonderful fragrance, be easy to look after and flower for five or six months of the year? I ce

Floristry courses and workshops are the best way to expand your skills, and they come with the bonus that you’ll meet others who share your new obsession. Learning comes in all sorts of formats, so we called on the expert help of Rachel Wardley, foun

Your flower patch will be beautiful to look at but you should think of it as a place to harvest a crop. To maximise your haul, you’ll need to consider these points when choosing where to plant… * A sunny situation is a must, with a minimum of six hou

Secateurs are like heavy-duty scissors and are perfect for trimming thick or woody stems. Try to buy these in person as it’s good to get a feel for them and see if the handle shape suits your hand. Avoid temptation in the form of pretty patterned han

Key: HHA – Half-Hardy Annual; HA – Hardy Annual. ■

Sarah is an accomplished, award-winning writer and broadcaster, sharing her expertise and enthusiasm for gardening and floristry with audiences around the UK and at her farm in East Sussex. sarahraven.com Rachel is an artisan florist, gardener and te