Our head gardener Emma shares some of her favourite plants to grow for architectural seedheads – and for festive decorations

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Winter can seem a bleak time in the garden but grow plants for seedheads and you can help extend your season with beautiful textures and skeletal stems. These naturally architectural plants are the backbone of your garden and can also be used for dry flower arrangements to brighten up your home over Christmas.

It’s lovely to cut whole stems and heads and dry them indoors for festive arrangements, whether for the vase, as a table decoration or a wreath. A variety of shapes and silhouette works well and consider pairing seedheads with fresh foliage such as cornus, holly, euonymus and berries to give a splash of colour. More interesting seedheads such as teasel, allium or poppy could be painted, or dipped in biodegradable glitter, and tied with a pretty ribbon for tree decorations.

Air dry collected seedheads by hanging in bunches with string or pop them straight in a vase of water, allowing them to use up the water and dry naturally.

This is a great way to recycle plant materials and cut down on the air miles of shop-bought arrangements – but always remember to leave some stems and seedheads behind to provide winter food, habitats and shelter for wildlife.

Here’s some of my favourite plants for sculptural seedheads…

Globe artichoke – Cynara scolymus 🔗

A statuesque plant growing up to 1.5m, dying back in autumn to resprout in spring. If left to flower, it’s absolutely loved by bees. They need a warm sunny spot with free draining soil to reach their full potential and can be grown from seed. Here at Garden Organic they self-set seed quite readily and we dig them up and pot them on. They require very little maintenance once established and the seedheads are magnificent, they look fantastic in the frost but would be equally at home in a dried flower bouquet.

Teasel – Dipsacus fullonum 🔗

This plant is another architectural giant and makes a great addition to the garden adding height and structure. It’s a firm favourite of goldfinches and provides much-needed pollen and nectar for bees and a wide variety of insects. It has prickly rosettes that open out into spiny purple flowerheads and its these flowerheads that will stand all winter once the flower has faded, providing structural interest. It’s useful in a wildlife area we have it by our pond and it self-seeds readily. Grow in moist soil, in full sun or partial shade.

Feather reed grass - Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ 🔗

Grasses are a lovely addition to any flower arrangement, and this is one of the best. Its elegant and majestic with erect feathery pinkish/purple flower plumes, which provide movement and sound in the garden. As the blooms fade, they turn into a golden colour that lasts throughout the year. It’s tall, growing up to six feet but narrow in width. It prefers full sun to part shade and is drought tolerant. Be aware this grass does not self-seed as its seeds are sterile. Propagate by division in mid-spring.

Sea Holly - Erynginum planum 🔗

I absolutely love this plant although it does stab me regularly! Its steel blue flowers look stunning in low light levels, and they flower from July through to autumn on upright branching stems. It’s very prickly but well worth trying. Great in a sunny border or in a wildlife area and a valuable source of nectar, particularly popular with butterflies and bees. The flowers dry out well and look beautiful tinged with frost.

Turkish Sage – Phlomis russeliana 🔗

readily. It has attractive heart-shaped leaves, which gives way to stiff stems with whorls of rich yellow flowers coming from late spring through to early autumn. Another plant that is drought tolerant, requires full sun in a fertile but well drained bed. The seedheads are worth leaving on for winter as they create a sense of magic when covered in frost. They look equally good green or dried in arrangements. Easily propagated from softwood cuttings, we divide our plants in early spring.

Wild celery - Angelica archangelica 🔗

This tall biennial has large umbelliferous lime green flowerheads with pink flushed stems. It’s ideal for wildlife planting as the flowers attract all types of pollinators including ladybirds and lacewings and the delicate seeds that follow are popular with birds. Grows in moist soil in partial shade. Sow seeds in late spring. You can keep it as a perennial if it’s not allowed to go to seed, but it will self-seed easily. Can grow up to two metres in height and spread to one metre. Another architectural beauty.