The Christmas wreath reinvented

Get to a certain age in life, and even the best-loved Christmas traditions can sometimes begin to feel a little stale. Which is how – while searching for inspiration and a fresh take on the classic homemade Christmas wreath – I recently came across Dublin-based florist Claire Ryan’s twiggy seasonal arrangement, a thing of lopsided, unconventional, pared-back beauty, made using the simplest of home-grown materials.

Forget complicated wire and moss frames, florist’s foam, glue guns, exotic flowers or shiny baubles; Ryan’s wreath is made of slender bundles of birch branches, a few fistfuls of evergreen foliage, gnarled hazel twigs, the steely-blue spherical seed-heads of the ornamental globe thistle (Echinops ritro) and a length of velvet ribbon that looks as if it came out of a vintage clothes shop. Rather than being imported from abroad, all of the plant material used in this wreath is locally sourced, much of it from the gardens and allotments of family and friends. “Whenever and wherever possible, we favour seasonal material with a mix of the wild and the home-grown. It’s what makes our work special.” Hence her decision to name the business, The Informal Florist.

The use of such materials aside, another large part of this wreath’s charm lies in its deliberate asymmetry. “I love that slightly Gothic, unstructured, almost wild look, where the material is allowed to speak for itself, rather than being shoe-horned into a particular shape or design”, explains Ryan, who works in partnership with fellow floral designer Patsy Wrafter from their workshop in Stoneybatter.

So there's no sprayed foliage, no glitter, no stiff clusters of glasshouse-raised carnations or perfectly-tied bows in this seasonal wreath, but just a very painterly, seasonal mix of locally grown plant material. It's a design approach inspired by the work of a new generation of American floral designers that includes Ariella Chezar, Emma Thompson and Sarah Ryhanen, and has won the business much praise and admiration. The Informal Florists' arrangements have featured in a host of publications since it was first founded by Ryan in 2011, including a spread in Vogue magazine.

With a background in television and journalism, Ryan’s route to the world of floral design was a circuitous one that began with a childhood interest in flower arranging. “One of my earliest memories is of trying to nab a bunch of lilac flowers from a bush growing in a neighbouring garden without getting caught [she wasn’t successful]. To this day it’s still one of my favourite flowers.” Unusually, she’s self-taught rather than professionally trained, something that’s worked to her advantage in terms of her willingness to use the kind of plant material often overlooked by more conventional florists.

Her advice to gardeners wishing to make their own seasonal wreath is to use plant material generously, with an eye to creating a pleasing and contrasting mix of textures, “Forget the textbook stuff, don’t feel bound by the rules, experiment with different materials and put your heart and personality into it; that, in the end, is what makes an arrangement really pleasing to the eye.

The Informal Florist will have a pop-up shop in Fallon & Byrne tomorrow (December 14th). For more details, see the informalflorist.com

How to make the Informal Florist’s Christmas wreath

What you'll need:
A generous bucket of birch twigs (young, slender, pliable twigs, cut to lengths of roughly 30cm). A couple of hazel twigs ( 30cm long). A handful of interesting evergreen foliage: Ryan used Viburnum tinus (from a female berrying plant) and ivy, but there are plenty of other suitable candidates (eg. Ligustrum, Eucalyptus, Pinus, Rosmarinus, Skimmia); just keep it natural by avoiding variegated foliage. Condition freshly cut foliage by placing the stems in a bucket of water overnight. Some interesting seedheads: Ryan used the spiky, sculptural seedhead of the ornamental globe thistle but other suitable candidates might include those of Nigella (Love-in-a-mist), Allium, Agapanthus, rose hips, or Clematis vitalba; Florist's wire. 60cm of ribbon (rather than cheap florist's ribbon, Ryan uses velvet ribbon sourced from specialist supplier A Rubenesque in The Powerscourt Centre (arubenesque.ie). "Not cheap, but a great investment as I'll re-use it again and again."

What to do:
Begin by using lengths of wire to tie the birch twigs into slender bundles (just thick enough to grip comfortably in one hand).
Then use the bundles to make a basic wreath shape (about 35cm in diameter is about right) by slightly overlapping them and wiring them into place at regular intervals so that the structure is strong and stable, with no obvious joins or weak spots.
Next, take the hazel twigs and wire them onto the wreath, placing them in such a way that they form a pleasing and dynamic contrast to the symmetry of the circle.
Then take the evergreen foliage and use short lengths of wire to fix these onto the wreath.
The aim is to decorate roughly one-third of the wreath (the lower, right-hand-side), leaving the remaining two-thirds bare. Add some sculptural seedheads, and then finish off with a suitably rakish ribbon bow.

This week in the garden . . .

Start ordering seed catalogues or browsing online suppliers, keeping a notebook close at hand to make a long list of anything particularly desirable. Spring and the sowing season might still seem a long way away, but seed of new or unusual varieties can often sell out early.

Plant roses now to allow them time to establish vigorous roots before growth kicks off again next spring. Now is also a good time to mulch around the base of established roses. But before spreading the mulch, collect any fallen leaves to reduce the risk of black spot and rust infection next year. Don't add these leaves to the compost heap, but bin or burn them.

Cover open compost bins with a layer of old carpet, cardboard or plastic sheeting to keep in the heat and help the composting process to continue throughout the winter months. Otherwise winter frosts and icy rain can slow the process to a standstill.