CREATING natural displays of flowers at Christmas is the perfect celebration of this time of year without having to rely solely on the artificial nature of most of our Christmas decorations, writes TOM ATTWOOD. I like the transient nature of natural arrangements, when they’re finished, they return to the garden via the compost heap and ‘return’ once again in a fresh guise the following year.

At this time of year most plants have entered a deep dormancy with the exception of a small number of plants, including the hellebores (or more aptly named Christmas Rose) for whom this time of year is often the start of their moment in the spotlight. Yesterday I was looking at our own Helleborus x orientalis cultivars we have planted in the garden and it was really heartening to see their fleshy buds beginning to erupt from their centres. I often think their buds resemble the unfurling fronds of ferns, similar to a roll of wire unwinding.

Using the dried flowers of plants growing in your garden can look stunning and it’s possible to create some beautiful arrangements now. To balance the dried material, it’s good to combine alongside them the fresh bright foliage of an evergreen such as holly, the bright gold leaves of Golden King or the deep, luxurious green blue of Ilex Blue Prince. There are many conifers whose foliage can be used with my personal favourite being the leaves of our native yew (Taxus bacatta).

Flower heads you see most commonly used are the mop-head hydrangea (H. macrophylla). Their large opulent flower heads retain their colouring well into the new year, particularly if they are kept out of direct sunlight. I also like to use hydrangea paniculata, their flowers are a different shape but are still large and bold. We have a grouping of hydrangea paniculata Limelight whose golden, biscuit coloured flower heads often make their way inside to be placed alongside the seed heads of alliums (ornamental onions), the silver-blue leaves of eucalyptus and often, that is all you need to create something sublimely simple.