A Spring Bouquet by Ana Mallah

Is it a new trend, or a throwback?

Have you noticed that it’s become quite fashionable to use herbs and vegetables as floral arrangements for your home?

When you walk past a florist or through a flower market these days, you’ll likely see a broad range of greenery that extends well beyond the usual repertoire of daisies, roses and carnations.

Kale, ornamental cabbages, artichokes, bay leaves and even brussels sprouts and parsley are just some of the less traditional plants now featuring in modern floral arrangements as our quest for creative alternatives to the usual suspects drives an interest in seasonal variants.

This new, or maybe recycled trend, has piqued the attention of Ana Mallah who has cleverly incorporated some of these non-traditional blooms to reimagine a spring posy in stitch.

The project A Spring Posy from Ana’s new book In Bloom takes its cues from the herb garden, flower bed and open field in this creative blend of stitched beauties.

Parsley, primula and wood sorrel are perhaps unlikely bedfellows, yet when you see them perfectly arranged in spectacular fashion in this stumpwork and surface embroidered piece from Ana, you’d think they were always meant to be together.

Stitched with stranded cotton threads onto a ground of natural linen blend fabric, three of the primula leaves are worked as wired, detached elements while the foreground flowers and all of the sorrel blooms are stitched onto separate fabric then attached over the surface embroidery, adding texture and depth to the design.

One of our favourite aspects of this project is the composition of the design.

On paper you could assume that having three tall stalks of parsley towering overhead in the background would be overly dominating.

Yet they actually form a dainty canopy that creates just the right amount of interest at the top of the design, allowing those spectacular violet coloured primula petals to take centre stage.

Anchored by a cluster of vibrant leaves at the base, the primulas are spectacular and worthy stars of the show. That said, the sweet, delicate wood sorrel flowers and their leaves provide perfect support, filling in the gaps to the left and right and ensuring the design is perfectly balanced.

In Bloom and A Spring Posy? Ready-to-Stitch kits are now available - simply click on the link below and scroll down.