A basket is something you are more likely to take to the garden to gather
flowers in rather than use it as a container for arrangements. In order for baskets
to take on this job, they need to be modified if the idea - and the basket - are going to hold water.
Elaine Martin of Vintage Gardener makes a case for baskets as containers for cut flower arrangements and potted plants. Not surprisingly, she likes the “vintage” look of baskets and has some antique, glass-lined baskets designed with that clear purpose.
“Baskets are warm and friendly and welcoming in your home for that sort of nesting idea that we all need a lot of these days,” says the Vintage Gardener proprietor. She adds that a gathering basket acting as a vase or container is a surprise that brings some magic to an arrangement.
The shape of one of Martin’s favourite baskets is long and narrow, making it extremely versatile. It fits well on a window sill, a sofa table or long narrow harvest table. Stuffed with a generous number of tall pink and white snapdragons, it finds a purpose in her home as a doorstop.
It’s a reproduction of a traditional basket with a handle which requires some help to transform it into a container for thirsty fresh-cut blooms. Martin nestles three large glass jars into the basket that can be filled with water and the snapdragon stems. As with any fresh arrangement, be sure to change the water frequently to prolong the life of the flowers.
Martin suggests a simple use for baskets is to set potted plants and flowers inside them. Just be sure to water directly into the pots. Plants can be transplanted directly into lined baskets. For baskets that don’t come with a lining, she suggests lining the basket with a plastic bag. This will keep soil and water where you want it to be and transform the basket into a planter for a terrace or deck.
When creating an outdoor planter, Martin recommends choosing plants of varying heights. For a blue colour theme she combines a blue hydrangea with tall stems and large flower heads with trailing ivy and then repeats the green with a fern. The addition of herbs like mint and lavender that have blue flowers, not only continues the blue theme but gives the arrangement a fragrance that can be carried with the breeze.
This is a definitely a summertime basket but basket workshops are offered throughout the year by Vintage Gardener, located in Toronto’s historic Distillery District. To find out more about workshops and Vintage Gardener, visit the website at www.vintagegardener.com.