Friday 6 May 2011

Wisteria wreathy loveliness

If you have a garden , thinking  " door  wreaths " and you have a bit of patience( we're talking 7 years or so ! )  , can I recommend you plant a wisteria  ? The lovely mauve drooping clusters of flowers  don't last too long, but when they come out, you can play around with it to your heart's content and they are super decorative and wonderfully scented- think Art Nouveau and Victorian ladies reclining on a chaise longue, their pretty heads encircled with a wreath of Wisteria flowers..
Just whack it in, water and feed it well, and let 7 years go by( yes, I know, that is the hard bit ! ) 
Wisteria, once it gets going can be a bit of a monster so make sure it does not creep it's way underneath your roof panes by the way !The occasional pruning should keep it in check.
Once you prune, you have some flowers left over..
                 which should give you a nice bit of material for a decorative wreath.
Make a basic wreath from willow, which you can find easily in the countryside or even in the city.
How to make the wreath is very easy, and is explained more extensively in this post- it's basically forming a large circle with several willow branches, then tying it with twine.
 To keep your flowers alive, use some tissue or lavatory paper which you moisten, and wrap the ends of the wisteria in this, then wrap some aluminium foil around this.
Your tools are thus  as follows:
As the flowers of the Wisteria are like vertical clusters, I thought it worked best if you attach the major part of the flowergroup at the top of the wreath so the wisteria can flow down from the top to the bottom.
The bottom of the wreath would look a bit strange with again drooping clusters hanging from it so I decided for the bottom part of the wreath to go for a string of Clematis Montana .Luckily , I have inherited a Mount Everest of Clematis Montana from the lady who owned the garden before me and planted this very kindly-and they can grow to an enormeous height..
                                                  ( Think two stories high at least - bit scary really ).
So plant yourself a clematis montana as well by the way- they give you such a lovely early Spring display.The flowers are very scented and from my mountain high clematis towering over my head the soft smell of old-fashioned 1950's facepowder seems to hang every night in the evening air, as thought Doris Day has just passed by on a sneaky nightly visit. If you don't have a clematis montana  beg , steal ot borrow a cutting or in the worst case scenario just buy yourself one( they's are not that expensive, maybe £6.95 or so )..   Again this may need pruning ! So here you have your clematis tendrils with flowers and all,  all nicely kept moist so it will last a few days with loo-paper and aluminium foil.                      
  Just attach to wreath at the bottom.( tuck the ends with aluminium foil away, out of sigh at the back. )
                                                Add pretty ribbon ( I went for cream ).
                                                                       Done ! 
                                                             You can hang it on the door ..
                                                                  

                                                                  and detail of the bottom :
                                                        
Or if you want to be careful with the delicate blooms of the Wisteria, and not have them moved to and fro when you open the door, you can hang the wreath inside...
                 This is a bit of a wild wreath with the clematis sticking out a bit but it gives a nice rustic feel.
I hope I have convinced you Wisteria is the way to go and you will get cracking with either planting the darned thing and smoke a pipe or cheroot or take up knitting for 7 years till the thing starts flowering, or IF you have one, to start making a wreath and enjoy the fabulous flowers not only outside but only inside !!!!                               Either way- enjoy planting  and/ or wreath making - wether it is a door wreath or simply a wreath for  an indoor floral decoration
                                                         And have a fabulous weekend!                     
                                                                                   



9 comments:

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Bea,

Indeed, the wisteria can easily become a monster that takes over in your garden! Your clematis are lovely; great to inherit such beauties.
Lovely wreath.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your blooms.

Lots of love,

Mariette

Ann@A Sentimental Life said...

your wreath is so pretty. I love wisteria, but I let me neighbor grow it! She has a huge arbor I can see from my porch

Bella's Rose Cottage said...

Your blooms look great! I love the Climatis wrapped in the wreath, when mine blooms I will have to try this, lovely!
Bella

Janie said...

I Love what you do!

Yes, my mother had wisteria in back of her house for many many MANY years...she passed away in 2009, and my sister stayed in the house..she could not control it and chopped the whole thing down...as hard as they are to keep under control, I Love wisteria!

Gorgeous wreaths!

Maria said...

lovely Wisteria idea! happy weekend!

http://design-elements-blog.com/

Suz said...

This wreath is gorgeous!

Naomi@DesignManifest said...

Oh your wreath is so pretty!!

There is wisteria at my parents country house. We love to pick it and put it is small bouquets on the table. It just adds to the charm of the place.

Susan said...

I've always wanted to plant wisteria - I wonder if it will grow in my climate? I'm inspired to check - thanks for sharing!

The Charm of Home said...

I need to plant a wisteria. That is lovely! It is a very romantic bloomer! Thanks for linking this up!
Sherry