During the late summer and early autumn it is truly easy to make bouquets straight from the garden. Not just small but big and generous.

Dried seed heads from the allium ‘Purple Sensation’ are so lovely in the bouquets now. I allow most of them to stay in the flowerbeds when they have finished flowering. Of course there will be some self-seeding but so far it is gladly received. And they are so beautiful in bouquets.

Good base plants and fillers that also keep longer.

Good to use as a base in bouquets are fillers, i.e. plants with sheer volume that are beautiful in themselves but that also provide a soft background for the other flowers so that the bouquet is held together. Many times I make bouquets solely with fillers. They last longer and are often the type that dries beautifully.

Filler favourites from my garden:

  • All varieties of Meadow rue, my favourite is the Lesser Meadow rue (image 1)
  • All varieties of Pimpernels, mostly using Sanguisorba officinalis (image 2) and Sanguisorba tonuifolia ‘Pink Elephant’ (image 3)
  • Dwarf lady’s mantle
  • Baby’s breath
  • Pale-flowered wormwood
  • All types of grass and seedpods
  • Flower heads from Alum root (Heuchera ‘Purple Palace’)
  • Argentinian Vervain (Verbena bonariensis)

Other plants that keep well and dry nicely are Hydrangea, Sedum, Eupatorium purpureum, Echinaceas, Rudbeckias.

In the bouquet are

Dahlia ‘Dark Spirit’
Sanguisorba officinalis
Seed heads from the Verbascum chaixii ‘Wedding Candles’, Lilium martagon, Lesser meadow rue (Thalictrum minus)
Flower heads from Alum root ‘ Palace Purple’
Lilies, ‘Mystic dream’ (Asian lily)
Hydrangea ‘Lime light’

Red, lime and dried. A nice combo. And also by ‘chance’, favourite colours.

Same base here in the bouquet but different lilies (‘Casablanca’).

———