Christmas STYLING

Wrap up warmly and a winter forage for nature’s seasonal decorations will always be most rewarding. The traditional trappings, holly, ivy and mistletoe, come gloriously gift-wrapped in Christmas custom, but there is a wealth of more imaginative and ethereal pickings to be gleaned from nature’s larder. A hedgerow interwoven with drifts of old man’s beard, teasels and downy thistleheads is a real treasure trove. In the garden, scented or colour-stained twigs and stems and salvaged, desiccated seedheads will provide additional alternative decoration.

These are the finds that Shane Connolly, florist by Royal Appointment, values the most: “Making beauty out of things