This month why not explore flower arranging with a difference to brighten up your summer entertaining. This Summer-on-Ice suggestion is from Jane Durbridge and Antonia Swinson's book Easy Flowers: An ice bowl makes a spectacular dinner party centerpiece and isn't as hard to make as it looks. Take a plastic or Pyrex bowl and place a smaller one inside it, then tape across the top of both bowls in a crisscross pattern, making sure the rims of the bowls are level.

Tuck flowers, leaves, or fruit down the gap between the bowls and carefully fill with water, then freeze. Here, sprigs of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) not only look good, but help to anchor smaller items such as the pink and red rose petals (Rosa), which might otherwise float to the top.

Summer berries-which also look pretty frozen into an ice bowl-have been piled inside for a delicious dessert. Dark pink tulips and glassware match the sumptuous colors of the berries and help to create a table setting guaranteed to make mouths water.

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