From the Christmas tree brightening up your living room, to the wreath adorning your front door, plants and flowers are a crucial part of any festive display. Luckily, while our gardens might look a little less colourful at this time of year, there are plenty of plants that thrive during the colder months and can be adopted as natural table or mantlepiece decorations.

Two women who know the power of a well-chosen flower are Hanna and Mollie, the talents behind Dorset-based florist café, Pamplemousse. As well as offering beautiful bouquets (and delicious coffee and cake!) in their shop in Shaftesbury, Pamplemousse also creates elegant floral displays for weddings. Their signature style? “Luxury and seasonal, focusing on bringing the outside in.”

After a morning spent creating two beautiful table displays at The Beckford Arms, we asked Mollie and teammate Eliza to share their tips for dressing your home sustainably this festive season.

Use fruit and seeds to add an elegant splash of colour

Rose hips remain on the plant long after the blooms have faded and are generally abundant at this time of year. “While the most common rose hips are red or orange, you can also find purple, brown or even black ones”, says Eliza. “We love to use delicate stems dotted with rose hips to create movement and colour, placing them on top of branches to add height to a centrepiece.”

Fruit is also an inexpensive and eco-friendly way to add visual interest to any display. If you’re drying citrus slices to use as decorations, place the sliced fruit directly onto the oven rack after cooking supper to make the most of the residual heat (make sure the oven is turned off first).