Time to kick out the January Blues and look forward to the early spring that our gifted ground hogs in North America have predicted, in accordance with folklore.

Searching desperately for that spring inspiration this morning I became nostalgic instead. While reaching for a book on the top shelf of my garden library, this thirty year old cobwebby topiary spoke to me, “time to throw me out” but then, being the sentimental collector of stuff that I am, I just took it down and started remembering all the fun I used to have with dried flowers. Cathy of https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/in-a-vase-on-monday-pleasure-or-floral-faffing/ . wrote about her new determination to dry more flowers on her blog last week and so it seemed fitting to use this for today. My post today is a complete coincidence of her post today which I only just read and as a consequence quickly went to edit mine! I hope readers will immediately go to her blog to see her beautiful ‘fresh’ dried flower wreath.

Dried flowers are coming back into ‘style’ apparantly. Styles and trends are not something I generally adhere to but thirty years ago, I was into dried flowers in a big way. I have few photos because we didn’t photograph everything then. I made wreaths, topiaries, large and small although most are long gone. The very few I kept are languishing in plastic bags or living on the cobwebby top shelves of spaces rarely used.

This old sphere was exceedingly dusty but after a gentle vacuum and a misty spray of water I was surprised how it perked up. Even the colours came back to life – a little! I moved it to the mantle piece with two other equally nostalgic items. Both these special items were collected and framed by my husband who gifted them to me after I retired and started playing with more horticultural ventures. These pursuits became known under the name of Jenny Wren. The framed farthing is representative of both my name and age. Coincidentally we watched the ‘JennyWren’ episode of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ last evening so I think this post was meant to be. The illustration of the Rock Wren is an old 1921 cigarette card.

I think readers will easily be able to pick out the material used in this old piece; Poppy heads, Hydrangea flowers, Statice, Nigella, Tansy, Pearly Everlasting, Giant Knapweed, Roses, Sweet Annie, Lady’s Mantle and Scabious. Interestingly there are no Straw flowers, Helichrysum, in this although I used to grow a lot of them.

Thank you Cathy of Rambling in the Garden, https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/

for gathering all the kindred spirits.