Christmas for Wildflower Magazine

Drum roll please…I have been longing to share this with you dear friends! A real pinch yourself moment for me…The time when Horace the Morris was starring on the cover of the 2020 Winter issue of WILDFLOWER Magazine!

I have had this shot set up in my head for some years now and, when I suggested it to Zoe at Wildflower Press she said yes! Actually she said “A vintage car with a wreath on the bonnet, filled with flowers and topped with beautifully wrapped presents is my dream shoot!” And so we made it happen, shooting in a post lock down 1.0 window.

It all began earlier that Autumn, Zoe asked me to write a piece about the Christmas wreath. I was at once delighted and overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for the natural world. I knew that I wanted to say something about the strangest of times we are living through and acknowledge the joy that nature has given us. To be perfectly honest with you, it was bliss to write, once I began the words just poured out onto the page. I became the embodiment of my wild foraged wreath, I didn’t try to import any feelings other than my own.

“This years wreath will be a SEASONAL CELEBRATION IN APPRECIATION OF OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WHICH HAS GIVEN US SO MUCH SOLACE DAY AFTER DAY”

— Sarah Prall, Wildflower Magazine, Autumn Winter 2020

Who and how do I begin to make this beautiful wreath a reality? I wanted to honour the idea that none of the ingredients would be flown here, that you might find them in your garden or hedgerow, and or support a British grower. Can you bring colour to a winter wreath without imported flowers? My thoughts turned to the wonderfully gifted Anna Reddings at Tales From…I called her…repeatedly! Poor Anna! Like many good things, I discovered Anna through Instagram. Fortunately she answered my call and the rest as they say is history.

I secretly long to be a florist, but I’m not! I babble wistfully about my foraged wintry floral vision and she joins in enthusiastically. Anna is a talented floral designer who tries, where possible to use seasonal flowers and a foraged element in her work. Enchanting arrangements with a deft lightness of touch come naturally to her. I sigh with wistful joy when we check in to discuss what ingredients we might use in my wreath. We make plans, and share secrets about which country lanes are dripping with berries.

I had been thinking about the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement and had begun to re-read some of my old art school books. In another moment of serendipity Ben Pentreath’s glorious Bloomsbury collaboration with Morris & Co launched.

Morris & Co approached Ben last year to ask if he would like to re-colour a selection of Morris’s original designs. Gorgeously reimagined in perfect new colours, the beautifully familiar Morris patterns, Marigold and Blackthorn. Yes! I will wrap my presents, tie them with silk velvet ribbons, and raid my prop stores for other bits and bobs, oh and finish with a floral sprig cut from the garden. They are a wonderfully rich reworking of some truly classic patterns. It was a homecoming of sorts too, we had both prints in the house where I grew up.

There is a great deal of pleasure to be found in thinking about the little things, noticing tiny details and flourishes don’t you think? I was so happy when I rediscovered this Morris quote…

““The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” ”

— William Morris

I feel that last year I had so much more time to tune into the details, the colours and the sounds. Yes, sometimes melancholy and sometimes plain old angry but somehow my gaze always returned to the window and beyond. Daily walks seem like the most glorious tonic to me, and the company of a chocolate four legged companion made it all the lovelier.

Beautiful photography by Georgia Furness

You can still buy this issue of Wildflower Magazine here