Wreath suppliers can be talked into selling just the basic spruce or—be prepared to fight—moss, wired on to a metal frame. With a circle of willow, anything can be added. All the better to add what you find along the wayside.
This year we've been admiring rose hips:
Above: A monoculture wreath works brilliantly. The clever people at the The Blue Carrot in Devon have chosen dog rose hips and wired them on to a circle of Virgina creeper vine.
Hips are formed on single-flowered roses: wild roses fall into this category. Cultivated roses like Rosa moyesii have festoons of flagon-shaped hips following on from crimson flowers.
Above: Moss is a pretty base and rather wasted at the back of a wreath. Add extra to rough it up, as well as this season's rose hips, larch twigs, pine cones large and small, and what looks like the lining of a bird's nest. This wreath is from The Blue Carrot's "Sleepy Hollow" series, created by Susanne Hatwood.
Wreaths, garlands, and all manner of arrangements made from British cut flowers: by order from The Blue Carrot.
Above: Feathers, twigs, desiccated berries—it's your celebration and there are no rules. Photograph by Sally Mitchell.
Above: A whatever-comes-to-hand wreath by The Garden Gate Flower Company, based in Cornwall. In the warmer southwest, hydrangea is still permissible and mingles happily with pine needles. If it works in the garden, it will work on your wreath. Hips used here include those from the cultivated rose 'Kiftsgate'. The larger orange hips are 'James Galway'; both available from David Austin in the UK.
Any kind of arrangement featuring British cut flowers are made to order at The Garden Gate Flower Company.
Above: An English hedgerow, rearranged and tied together by The Garden Gate Flower Company. The fine needles are from the Bottle Brush plant (Callistemon citrinus). Becca and Maz, the people behind Garden Gate, would like it to be known that they put out large quantities of bird seed in exchange for delving into the birds' winter larder.
Above: A home-decorated but not exactly homemade wreath. Lights for wreaths in soft white or brilliant red are available from Sarah Raven in the UK: £6.95.
Cut to the chase with lights only: A Beautiful Mess: Effortless String Lights.