This pretty leafy twig brought out of the forest by Kelly Sullivan (see Botanique story below) and given a magnificent still-life portrait by Anna Peters is from the twisty tree growing wild here at Wildshoot Forest & Farm. It is the vine maple wonder.
This airy filler has delicate looking leaves, yet a secretly flexural strength in the stem. The floaty leaves rest on wiry stems that can be threaded between and through the bouquet to lighten a hydrangea or to fill a hole or help lift a floppy rose. It can be worked gracefully into a designer centerpiece or a handful of flowers on the fly. This is a much needed benefit for me the way I seem to always end up blissfully mashing my foraged collection into an always messy bunch at the last minute. This very fine vine maple stem is so nice to all the other stems and flowers in my bouquet and it doesn’t weigh them down. What a nice friend to have!