Willow Wreath Workshop

A highlight of the Foxglove calendar is an annual wreath making workshop. Using natural, sustainable materials grown on the reserve, beautiful festive decorations were created.

Marilynne gave step by step instructions on how to construct a frame from Grey Willow stems.

It didn't take long for everyone to get the hang of the technique and the mindful task of weaving in more stems began!

The next step involved building up a layer of foliage. The branches used were pruned from a large Grand Fir and the air in the classroom was soon filled with it's strong citrus scent.

Each wreath requires around 20 cut stems so for a class of 16 people a huge amount of willow had to be harvested in advance. This was kindly done by the team from Northdale who managed to complete the mammoth job in one day. No surprise with a world class swimmer in the group; well done on earning an incredible number of gold medals!

Thank you too to Marilynne for giving up her Saturday to teach us all this wonderful craft. Same time next year everyone?