We are striving to make use of all waste materials or arisings throughout the process of renewing the walled garden at Benton End. When a dominant Monterey pine tree fell, numerous opportunities presented themselves, such as milling the trunk wood for later use as large table tops and block seats. A more ephemeral use of the branches was to cut hundreds of the needled tips to line the wire basket used for this arrangement, turning it into a container.
You may also like
How to achieve the look
Container and composition
This wire basket, from Bayntun Flowers, wouldn’t have held soil without a lining. I used 12cm tips of the pine’s branches, building up from the central base and adding volumes of loam-based potting soil as the sides built up, which prevented them from falling in.
The tall and glaucous-leaved Fritillaria persica ‘Adiyaman’ often develops a quirky and aspiring shape to its stem and this brings a lot of movement to the arrangement, above the solidity of the container. A shining, bronze-leaved peony, although not flowering this early in spring, was used to connect the tall frits with the lower level plants. Across the lower level I wanted to showcase a couple of highly floriferous plants, which mingle well. Both the Erodium pelargoniiflorum and Lamium purpureum sing out within
a chorus of yellows.
Cultivation and care
All the bulbs, as well as the peonies, were potted up in autumn and occasionally watered in winter. The Fritillaria persica and Iris bucharica were kept in a cold frame to keep them drier. The tulip, peony and daffodil are more tolerant of inclement dampness.
The container was planted up in late winter, when all the bulbs began to nose up. The soil surface was then topped with a covering of Erodium pelargoniiflorum and Lamium purpureum, both of which readily self-seed about the garden and were transplanted from the beds.
Plants
1 Fritillaria persica ‘Adiyaman’ Magnificent spires with pendent maroon flowers. 70cm x 30cm. AGM. RHS H4, USDA 5a-8b.
2 Erodium pelargoniiflorum Apple-green foliage ruff tops a woody root. Copious characterful flowers all spring. 20cm x 30cm. RHS H5.
3 Iris bucharica Probably the easiest Juno iris to cultivate. Has soft-yellow standards and falls of a truer yellow. 30cm x 20cm. AGM. RHS H5.
4 Tulipa sylvestris The way the petals of this tulip reflex is very elegant. Good for naturalising. 30cm x 10cm. RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b.
5 Narcissus ‘Eystettensis’ A miniature daffodil grown since the 15th century. 20cm x 10cm. RHS H6, USDA 4a-8b.
6 Paeonia lactiflora Peony found at Benton End, which needed to be reinvigorated to identify it. 60cm x 90cm. RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b.
7 Lamium purpureum A great early flowerer for pollinators. 15cm x 15cm.