Simple Centre Piece with grasses and sweet peas

June really did bring a bit of everything, from weddings to funerals to lots of bunches in-between. I had a bumper crop of Briza Maxima grass and a heavenly scented crop of the first sweetpeas so decided to combine for a simple summer table centre piece.

Sweetpeas will always be a secret favourite as they were the first proper cut flower I managed to grow. The first crop is always a June treat and I feel they come into their own with the summer solstice. If you have never grown sweetpeas please give them a try, they are so wonderful. They grow best locally so find your closest flower farm and get yourself a bunch –  these aren’t supermarket flowers.

For this table centrepiece I used a circular concrete planter  I found in Boni-vee as I was doing my weekly delivery. Initially I looked at it as an option for sustainable funeral flowers but it was too small for what I needed, it was however, the perfect size to hold glass yoghurt pots (Aldi’s fit the best!). I had also bought some tiny houseplants (still alive) to mix in with them. The idea I had for this was to keep the houseplants going and then mix in fresh flowers with the seasons.

For my first styling idea, I used just two flower varieties – Briza Maxima and mauve Sweet Peas. I wanted the colour palette to feel quite considered so stuck with green and mauve as it’s one of my favourites but it would work with all sorts of different flower combinations. What worked so well with this is, I made it on a Thursday and it was still looking great for a family dinner on the Sunday. I made a Reel of how it came together which you can see here. Both the Briza Maxima and Sweet Peas were autumn sown and wintered in the greenhouse, they are fairly frost hardy so can be planted out in the garden early March for June flowering.

For the dinner, I kept the menu simple too – a really easy summer stew – French-style Chicken with peas and bacon served with new pototoes and salad and then Blueberry and lemon traybake made as a layered cake to finish. I normally set the table for a family dinner but kept this simple too, letting everyone settle to where they were most comfortable. It’s summer, keep it simple!