Ahh, the fragrance and it’s pretty!

Three enormous artimesia annua plants graced our garden this year and the blooms are gorgeous. I set about creating beauty with Sweet Annie. Last week,  I harvested and arranged some of the fragrant everlasting herb, so we can enjoy the color and fragrance inside our home. 

First step in creating beauty: I assemble materials

I acquire an eight-inch round metal wire wreath frame and locate my floral wire and my husband’s wire cutters. (Yes, I put the wire cutters back. Smile.) I also find my fabric scissors and a length of periwinkle blue ribbon. I begin cutting several five to seven inch lengths of floral wire.

Beauty Creation step two: Now I harvest the Sweet Annie

I select the best of three Sweet Annie Plants and cut off a single branch of this seven-foot plant.

Next, creating beautiful bundles of Sweet Annie

I cut stems of the blossoms from the one branch and create bundles of this sweet-smelling herb. Not only do they smell wonderful, they will also tend to repel insects. I wind a length of wire around the stems of each bundle, carefully, neatly tucking each sharp end.

After the bundles are created, I wire the first bundle on to the wire frame. Then I overlap a second bundle of the stems of the first and secure it to the wreath frame. Likewise, I continue overlapping the remaining Sweet Annie bundles until the frame is completely covered. If there are any bare spots, it is simple to tuck in additional bundles as needed. The result is a full, lovely, aromatic arrangement.

The result? A Thing of Beauty

My leftover foliage went into an herb pocket — my son’s middle school project. Our breeze way smells marvelous.

Next posting–we discover that Sweet Annie is more than a pretty face…