I'm not the best at thinning plants out of the garden. Every year we have a thicket of volunteer sunflowers that no one has the heart to pull and this year was no different, except that I had built new planter boxes over most of their unused stretch of gravel driveway. They sprung up in between the boxes and gradually started to shade out the dahlias and roses. Now that the light is fading early, and the dahlias are taking off, they had to go. Hence this arrangement which features the yellows and reds of the sacrificed sunflowers.

As you might guess, I love flowers that have multiple colour tones, arrangements that allow different shades to play off each other, unexpected combinations that pop and sing. That's not to say I don't appreciate simplicity - sometimes all you want is a beautiful arrangement in whites and greens. But when I make flower arrangements from the garden I use the opportunity to experiment with colour combinations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but every one helps sharpen my imagination and confidence in putting together unique bouquets and arrangements. Hopefully they give you some ideas too!