WINTER FLOWERS

Japanese Flowering Apricot Tree

This ornamental tree, most commonly seen in Japan and China, blooms with fragrant blossoms in white, pink and red. While deciduous plants are bare, this tiny tree adds a splash of color to traditional tea gardens over the winter months.

Lenten Rose

This perennial flower is actually not a rose at all, but a perennial with the look of a rose. Blooming in late winter or early spring, often during the Lent season, the Lenten rose is a hardy plant with foliage that lasts right through spring.

Chinese Sacred Lily Paperwhite

A member of the narcissus family, this hybrid winter-blooming flower is neither Chinese nor a lily. The paperwhite is a tender plant that needs great care, but is a « crowd-pleaser with its delicate fragrance and bold golden-yellow center.

Christmas Cactus

This droopy cactus garners its name from the magical surprise of blooming in winter. With its vibrant pink-red flowers, it is perfect for brightening up the house at Christmas, and makes a great festive gift for loved ones.

Poinsettia

Originally from Mexico, this red and green flowering plant is put on display at Christmas as its leaves are said to resemble the Star of Bethlehem. The flowers do not attract pollinators and the leaves can be toxic if consumed.

Winter Jasmine

A vine-like shrub perennial, winter jasmine has bright yellow, unscented flowers. Support this plant with a trellis or wall or it will become invasive, and keep it under control with frequent pruning.

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Tropical Patches

Transform almost anything with these tropical iron-on patches! MATERIALS Linen Wool felt Chenille 18 needle Embroidery thread Scissors: fabric and embroidery Heat n Bond Iron 1. Transfer the three patterns onto the linen fabric, leaving sufficient space in between each so that they can be individually cut out in step 3. 2. Stitch the patterns following the keys for the white lotus, the banana leaf and the African violet (see Tropical Plants in Flowers Category : White Lotus, Banana Leaf, African Violet ) . 3. Once the stitching is complete, cut around each patch leaving a little less than 1in (2.5cm) of fabric all the way around. 4. Now cut three pieces of wool felt to match the shape of the embroidered linen patches, making them just a little larger to allow for a felt ‘border’ all the way around the edge. Place the felt pieces behind each of the linen patches. 5. Using a single strand of an embroidery thread of your choice, use whipped back s...

C – VARIATED BACK STITCH

This stitch, like satin stitch, is a filler stitch, albeit a less controlled one. 1. Referring to how to work back stitch (see Back Stitch), fill in the designated space with back stitches, keeping the stitches random with no consistency (1).

MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT

THREAD The embroideries have all been stitched with DMC six-strand embroidery floss (stranded cotton), but there are many other thread choices available, as well as yarns, cords and ribbons. Anything is possible, although some options are trickier than others! NEEDLES Your threading medium determines needle choice: e.g., DMC gold embroidery needles (sizes 1, 3, 5) have smaller eyes for single strands of floss, while the DMC chenille needle (size 18) has a larger eye for thicker thread types, such as cord or yarn, or for stitching with all six strands of floss. A chenille needle (size 18) was used to work all the embroideries here. Explore the options but choose a needle that has a pointed tip, rather than a blunt-tip tapestry needle. FABRIC Anything (and everything) can be embroidered onto: from linen to burlap, to silk, to paper. A favorite for modern hand embroidery, and the fabric used in this book, is a linen-look/linen-blend fabric, which can either be a combination of l...

Embroidery flowers

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