
Flower care guide
Clusters of glossy berries in cream, peach, burgundy and near-black. Not a flower at all, and one of the most useful things in the shop for adding weight and depth.
Recut the woody stems at an angle and strip the lower leaves.
Change the water every three or four days. Berries are undemanding and comfortably outlast the flowers around them.
The leaves usually go before the berries do. Strip them off as they yellow and the berry stems keep looking good on their own.
When the rest of an arrangement is finished, pull the berry stems out, rinse them and put them in a small vase by themselves. There is usually plenty of life left in them.
The berries are mildly toxic if eaten, so keep them away from small children and pets.
Hypericum berries are what is left after the yellow St John's wort flower has finished, harvested at the berry stage rather than in bloom.