Nothing says Christmas like a bespoke festive wreath.

Here, stylist Sarah Prall speaks to florist Anna Reddings of Tales From… who shares the secrets of creating her beautiful ‘Nothing Flown’ wild wreath, as featured on our Christmas cover. With beautiful images by Georgia Furness.

Working from her charming Apple Tree House garden studio that  sits under the boughs of a fairy-tale apple tree, Anna Reddings of  ‘Tales From…’ creates her beautiful wild floral designs.  The studio looks across raised cutting beds which supply her with flowers and foliage during the British flowering season. Always making the most of what’s in season and sustainably foraging in the local countryside to add textures and interest to every design, Anna instantly knew exactly what to put together for our ‘Nothing Flown’ wreath. It’s wild and therefore sustainable, something we should all be looking to achieve at Christmas.

Anna says, ‘I’ve used a reusable rattan wreath frame for my ‘Nothing Flown’ wreath as it’s large and heavy so needs the sturdiest frame I could find. For smaller wreaths I like to use wire, wooden or vine frames. The vine frame being my most used for fresh wreaths as it can be composted. For fully dried wreaths I use wood or wire as these keep for many years if looked after properly and can be reused. Dried wreaths are not suitable for front doors during winter as the damp and cold will rot the materials. Mixing a few pieces of dried in a fresh wreath on the front door is fine though – bracken, seed heads, dried grasses all work well.

If using fresh ingredients and you want your wreath to last, then you need to use some damp moss attached to the wreath base. Always use responsibly sourced moss if you can. Look around your garden for some, or on old walls and pathways. Try binding with a compostable twine instead of wire and use ingredients that will dry on the wreath so it lasts longer than just the holiday season. I have a number of Christmas wreaths that I still have 3,4 & 5 years later and still look beautiful. Mimosa dries beautifully as does Beech, Eucalyptus and Populus.’

Anna suggests these plants and flowers to recreate her wild wreath:

Beech – Spindleberry – Eucalyptus – Mimosa – Cotinus – Pittisporum – Berried Mrytle – Weeping Pear – Hawthorn berry – Populus Berries – Crocosmia berries – Dried Bracken – Dried Tulip seed heads – Dried Alchemilla Mollis – Berried Mrytle – Dried Honesty – Figs

Anna will be offering wreaths for delivery in the UK this year for the first time. They are available in 2 sizes. There are also other options for collection only if you live locally including table centre pieces, mini wreaths and dried flower wreaths. Head over to the website for more details www.talesfrom.co.uk or visit Anna’s Instagram account @talesfromappletreehouse

And don’t forget that you can see more beautiful pictures, and read Sarah Prall’s full feature in the Christmas issue of Wildflower, on sale now. Email hello@wildflowerpress.co.uk to buy your copy.

Anna Reddings

Tel:07740 306 879

anna@talesfrom.co.uk

www.talesfrom.co.uk

@talesfromappletreehouse

Photography: Georgia Furness @georgia_furness