Our Interior tips for this month comes from Paula Pryke's Simple Flowers

Winter can be difficult for flower arrangers. In the northern hemisphere, the choice of seasonal flowers is severely limited, although thanks to modern horticultural advances, much plant material can now be obtained all year round. But I don't like arrangements that rely only on out-of-season material, completely ignoring the fact that it's winter. Instead, whenever I can, I like to incorporate some wintry element, whether it be in the form of seasonal foliage, twigs, or food from the winter kitchen such as dried herbs or spices.

Tropical imports provide another range of possibilities for winter. The highly textural spiky heads of papyrus look great on their own or, if you want to add some color, combined with other tropical material such as orchids and anthuriums. When you buy it, papyrus often looks dishevelled, but it's simple to tidy it up into a sharp, geometric shape with scissors.

In the northern hemisphere, it is around Christmas time that the first spring flowers become available. My favourites are the elegant long-stemmed tulips raised in the South of France and sold in the flower market at Nice. Their bold shapes look spectacular on their own, or combined with material that is equally graphic, such as contorted willow stems or the rounded heads of ornamental cabbages. A few of these tulips in your room will truly make you feel that spring is just around the corner.

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