Foliage for flower arranging

Lots of privet, green and variegated.
Pittosporum
Ivy from hedges - both trailing and flowering
Red/yellow shrubs
Evergreen shrubs are very useful - Eleagnus, Phormium…
Farsi’s, and a pretty hybrid with ivy called Fatshedera
If you are in the country, walk around with secateurs as I used to!

Farsi’s??? FATSIA

Eucalyptus is very good. You do need to keep it pruned to keep it shrub size rather than a tree but as this is in the Spring the prunings are excellent for Easter arrangements. Florists love it.

I agree with grandMattie’s suggestions, just a few more:
If you’ve got space, eucalyptus is one of the best.
For large arrangements, escallonia is good, lovely glossy dark green leaves.
Holly for the winter, both variegated and green
Hebe is also useful, and has lots of varieties with different coloured leaves
I also use leaves from previously or not yet flowered bulbs, particularly iris, montbretia and lilies, as they are strong and don’t flop over

We have a laurel bush in the churchyard which we "prune" frequently for greenery. It gives good support to the flowers, especially useful as we've given up using plastic foam which is so bad for the environment.

Thank you , ladies .
Just keep those ideas coming !
I have a Pittosporum and find Italian Arum and ivy very useful .
I also found a neighbour's Viburnum Tinus long lasting at Christmas -it's on my list .
I do like Eucalyptus and wondered if I can keep it a small size .
I think that I can .
I've lost my Hebes - all grown from cuttings and will replace them .

I'm a huge fan of Pittosporum, it comes in so many different varieties. I have a purple/bronze one in a big tub which looks stunning in arrangements.

I have two huge Pittosporums .
They used to seed so many people have benefitted from them . I nearly lost one during the last dry summer. They are fabulous as greenery .

Elaeagnus,
Euonymus,
Variegated ivy.

Another vote for eucalyptus. Very useful.
Cotinus coggygria - the aubergine coloured leaf one... might be called Royal Putple?

We put two camellias in the church grounds, (dug up from DS2 's garden). I used some for this week's flowers in church. They have lovely glossy leaves and some flowers. Griselinia is also useful as you will find straight lengths, also a bay tree gives plenty of foliage.

Thank you , you've made some suggestions , which I didn't think of .
I realise that some plants , which my mother would have used for flower arrangements have been lost from her garden .
At the moment , the old camellias are magnificent .
I don't do much to them - an annual pruning and water when it's dry .
The only one which tends to be disappointing is the beautiful pure white one as the buds are often brown .
I think that I'll try propagating them this year .

Bay tree once they get going they are very prolific they smell nice to
Mine must self seed cos they pop up all over the place

I use to wander in local parks and just trim some greenery ... no one minded ...

Crocosmia leaves are useful for height and big hosta leaves help with gaps. I agree though when doing any floral arrangement the frame of foliage is the difficult part to source, we used to keep it going in a jug to reuse wherever possible.

In my garden, I use sprigs of smoketree (cotinus), leaves from astillbe, and hosta leaves.

Does salal grow in UK? We have it naturally here and it is well used for bouquets.

Esmay, you will have to take some photos to show us some of your arrangements.

In addition to bay I also use rosemary and sage branches from big bushes in the garden - they give strong support and smell good too.
Prunings from dogwood give an interesting colour as well as support. The stems are flexible enough to weave into a support structure if you want. I haven't done that for flower arranging but do use them to make a structure for my sweet peas to climb up.

If you do plant a eucalyptus you will need to keep it well pruned as it's the young foliage that is so attractive. Left to itself it will very quickly grow into a huge tree.

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions .

For a church arrangement, nothing smaller than bay or laurel is big enough. I don't do church flowers myself but I'm have observed that big and bold is the way to go rather than intricate.

At home, I have laurel and holly and ivy growing in the garden, and to fill out table decorations or smaller vases I use the rosemary which is prolific. I didn't think the spikiness of it was attractive but it does work. And or course it smells nice, too!

So I would say don't shy away from trees with big leaves, such as beech, when the leaves have come out. Cypress and laurel would be green at this time of year and are bushy enough to fill bigger spaces.

Even 'small leaved' shrubs in the right quantities would look beautiful.
How about, when the season is right, using some pampas? I know it is not green but is is bold and dramatic.

I've bought the first of the shrubs , that I plan for the churchyard .
There's only yew and ivy .
It could be more attractive .
It will take a time for it to be big enough to provide greenery for the floral displays .
I'm going to ask the plant nursery for donations .
It's amazing what you can get if you ask !
They can say no and still know that I'm a good customer .
And thank you again .