Skimmia

We try, here at FOTW HQ, to keep our latest spotlights trained on flowers that are in season at the time of publication – it would jar a bit, given our commitment to seasonality on the flower-sending side of the site. That said it’s not always easy, particularly in the harshness of winter when all we want to do is dream about dahlias all damn day.

God bless the Skimmia then, which you may be surprised to find out is not a new type of zero-calorie drink from some grotesque coffee shop chain, but a delightful little multi-season, evergreen shrub. By multi-season we mean it offers something a little bit special at different times of the year. Check back in April and May, and you’ll find scent-filled yellow and white flowers blooming out from above their glossy green leaves.

Right now though, it’s all about the berries, baby! As soon as winter swings around those flowers are but a distant memory and in their place sit little scarlet baubles. Don’t ask me why red berries have become such a fixture of festive-season flower arrangements (I’m writing to a deadline here) but I’m gonna throw a couple of possibilities out there, one of which will resonate more than the other, depending on the type of Christmas celebrations you normally ‘enjoy’: they look like Rudolph’s nose when it’s lighting the way for Santa’s sleigh; they look like your drunk uncle’s nose when it’s lighting the way to the bottle of port after Christmas dinner. Maybe (probably) it’s just that they’re in-season and get to transcend the usual flower-symbolism nonsense, because there’s something inherently joyous about the color red. Rejoice!