We give flowers when a baby is born, in times of deep grief, for anniversaries, to celebrate birthdays, when a friend moves into a new home, to say thank you, for graduations, and to show appreciation on days like Mother’s or Father’s Day. When mass tragedy strikes, people flood the site with flowers, even strangers. To give flowers is instinctual. It is our way of communicating heartfelt messages without words – to say we’re sorry, that we’re happy for them, to show solidarity, or just to tell someone they’re loved. Flowers are a key part of this circle of life experiences that we all pass through. 

Even the saying, “stop and smell the roses” is intended to remind people to pause in their busy days and enjoy life for a moment.

I’ve been thinking plenty about this concept of the circle of life, especially with spring in the air and everything blooming afresh, colour and vibrance returning to nature. I think that wreaths are a perfect representation of this concept; a symbol of the never-ending nature of life’s circle. Wreaths are not difficult to make and you can usually make something beautiful with whatever you have on hand.

Ingredients

• A bunch of any foliage of your choice (I like blue gum!)
• A bunch of rosemary, any herbs or small flowering native flowers

Tip: You can substitute for anything you can source from the garden. Bushy plants work the best, and choosing two or more varieties will give your wreath lots of texture. When working with a wire base, the easiest way of adding materials is in clusters.

Tools

• Florist’s wire or garden twine
• Snips
• Wireframe
• Twine or Ribbon (optional)

Design Steps

• Secure the paper-covered wire to the wreath base by binding the wire around a few times and finishing with a twist.
• To make a cluster, cut your materials into small pieces around 10-12cm in length.
• Gather a few pieces of gum and rosemary to form a small bunch, and place the cluster against the wire frame.
• Attach the cluster using the paper-covered wire to hold them in place. Make sure you are wrapping the wire around the wire wreath base and the botanical stems. Don’t cut the wire, but overlap the join with another cluster of botanicals, and continue wrapping your way around the frame. Place clusters on alternate sides of the wreath ring.
• In this wreath the materials are arranged in a continuous circle, with all the clusters facing the same direction. To finish your wreath you will need to tuck the join of the end cluster under the first cluster.
• You can attach a piece of twine or ribbon to the wireframe if you would like your wreath to hang from a door or wall. If not, your wreath can be placed on a table. 

I’d love to see what wreaths you create, so please, if you post a photo on Instagram or Facebook, don’t forget to tag @bloomcollege so I can see it (and share it with our lovely Bloom followers)!

For more arrangements that are entwined with deeper meaning, I’ve created the Feed Your Soul With Flowers course. It can be done entirely online and for a limited time, you’ll also receive a copy of my book of the same name. Take a look here.

Yvette x