Up and down the country, there are flower growers like me who have no fresh flowers right now but are totally committed still to seasonality and sustainability, as well as the biodiversity of our land. So although perhaps you may think we have nothing to offer, by using dried flowers from our summer harvest, many of us will be cutting fresh locally grown foliage to create decidedly planet friendly decorations.

My favourite evergreens include brachyglottis, elaeagnus, Portuguese laurel, viburnum tinus, bay, and of course berried ivy, whose woody stems need to be split and submerged in water for at least 48 hours to condition them properly. Cotoneaster franchetii as well as being a perfect pollution absorber has the most beautifully arching stems as well as berries. The berries on the pyracantha this year are amazing and reminds me I need to plant some.

There is a moment when the birds need the berries, so before they disappear overnight, I cut a few stems, leaving them a few though for their winter food. Wild dog rose hips are perfect for wreaths or to arrange in small glass vase clusters down the table. To hold them perfect for the moment, keep them hydrated in scrupulously clean buckets in the cool and dark which avoids the berries shrivelling for many weeks.

A few herbal stems of rosemary and thyme add a scented seasonal moment to any tablescape and these can be arranged a tiny gathered bunch tied with string with a dried helichrysum flower for a sustainable place setting keepsake. At this point, every flower growers wishes they had grown more I promise you.

Homemade crackers can be filled with small packets of sweet peas seeds, ideally saved from your garden. The seeds will carry the love and hope of that Christmas moment to the new year when the light levels are better for germination. I wish to be practical and frankly honest. There is simply no point sowing in Decembers UK light levels, that and the inevitable damp drichness for fungal disease is a recipe for disappointed growers. I always germinate mine on a biodynamic flower day at the end of January where I think they catch up to the autumn sown and have more chance of survival.

The first narcissi of the season are blooming already in the south, and what the winter lacks in abundance it more than makes up for in scent. N. tazetta “paperwhite” is always the one to choose as its scent is exquisite and the heads have multiple flowers that keep on flowering as long as you keep taking off the old flowers and keep changing the water every few days.

I hang fir cones from string or ribbon garlands with long stems of ivy twisted throughout them with the bottom branches of my Christmas tree for simple but elegant seasonal decoration, with colourful dried flowers to add some echo’s of summer.

Above all though, I wish to encourage everyone to dare to be different this year. While there are many traditions everyone likes to keep, sometimes to help nature, and the earth, we need to change and forsake the roses flown from afar. Find your local florist, including members from Flowers From The Farm that are up and down the country, that are creating decorations with locally sourced seasonally sustainable ingredients, in a beautiful way to celebrate the love of this winter season.

I am delighted for some of these ideas to be part of the December online article in “Country Living”.