FORAGED WREATHS

To paraphrase the proverb, one person’s weed is another’s treasure, and the floral wreaths that are all the fashion now illustrate this perfectly.

Foraging is now in the zeitgeist alongside slow food and finding inspiration not from exotic travels but your own environment. Serendipitously, the former red zones in Christchurch and Kaiapoi, now called regeneration zones, have open areas that are fenced but allow walkers and foragers through them.

The houses that were once there are gone now – the closer to the river, the worse the liquefaction – but their garden history remains and as dog parks, softball diamonds, native reserves and bike tracks are opened, former residents are drawn to the location and stories about their garden features are often heard.

This wild territory has been a godsend for foragers looking for walnuts, hazelnuts, mushrooms, kiwifruit, grapes and apples, and all manner of plant treasures.

Cynthia Robinson, herself a quake “refugee” from Brookland’s red zone, loves finding botanical specimens (read weeds) in the expanse of open grassland for her wreaths. Now living in Pines Beach, where homes were also lost in the quakes, she wanders through the regeneration zone there and in Kaiapoi only a couple of kilometres to the west, her expert eye finding treasures for her floral creations.

Just mooching on a walk, Cynthia will find – without seeming to look – enough wildflowers and grasses to make a posy or wreath, often completed on the hoof by the time she gets home.

“I suppose I have an eye for it,” is her modest explanation for this phenomenon, but she also advises would-be foragers to “slow down and look around.”

Kerb crawling, roadside foraging or even just looking in a ditch often reveal an array of wildflowers and weeds. Cynthia relishes rescuing a plant from the council mowers, often in the nick of time. Unmown areas of grassland are a source of many plants. The Kaiapoi and Waimakariri rivers provide another source on their sandy riverbanks.

At all times, she abides by the natural law for foragers, that is to only take a little piece of a plant and leave the rest for others.

Cynthia’s wreaths are made from various common vines.

These include willow, honeysuckle, grapes and native pohuehue (Muehlenbeckia complexa), which is extremely drought-tolerant and survives well in the sandy soils of this area.

Wound into circles and secured with a small wire, the addition of the many botanical finds turns it into a masterpiece to decorate a wall or gifted to friends.

Ask the average person what colour pampas grass heads are and they would agree on a shade of white or cream but Cynthia sees pinks, purples, and caramel. She will highlight the tones in her raw materials by combining plants that add sparkle, colour or texture and form.

Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) and Jersey cudweed (Helichrysum luteoalbum) rescued from the ignominy of the weed world, flourish under Cynthia’s deft touch. Jersey cudweed’s unprepossessing grey foliage and brown flowers pop up where there is bare dry soil, and to a tidy gardener it’s a pain in the neck. I have pulled out so much over the years but Cynthia sees the beauty in its shape and texture.

The beauty of the red zone is that flowering shrubs can be found too. Lavender, Verbena bonariensis, valerian, tansy and oregano feature in her creations. And the soft pink flowers of that curse of a weed – knotweed! – add just the right touch of colour.

All manner of hydrangeas have survived and live on, supplying a range of bleached colours perfect for the faded glory of a posy or wreath.

The style of Cynthia’s arrangements is a muted one.

To her, the many shades of green and dried grass are more important than the often-brilliant colour of flowers.

The South American invader Argentine cress (Lepidium bonariense), red clover, white yarrow, hare’s tail grass (Lagurus ovatus) and canary grass (Phalaris canariensis) have unique features that ensure their selection.

Leaves too add texture and colour, whether it’s eucalyptus, ka¯ nuka and its white flowers in spring, pampas grass or dried fan palm leaves.

Pigfern is also useful to Cynthia, and comes in brown, faded green or the brighter green of new growth.

Dried strawflowers, roses and statice are her only purchases but are always used most frugally.

Shepherd’s purse is a weed that is well known to all gardeners and who but Cynthia has noticed and admired “those gorgeous heart shape seedheads”. Wired together, they create texture but Cynthia admits that “you need an awful lot”.

We have all heard that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. It is certainly true that this talented self-taught florist has found the right place for her foraged weeds. ✤