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Les Interviews / April 28, 2026

Atmosfloric Living: Sean Pritchard on the Art of the Spontaneous Spring Vase

For garden designer and author Sean Pritchard, a vase of flowers is more than a centerpiece - it is a living still life. With a background in fine art and a deep devotion to the seasonal shifts of his Somerset cottage, Sean views the interaction between a bloom, a painted wall, and a weathered keepsake as a form of storytelling. In his new book, Atmosfloric, he invites us to abandon the rigid rules of floristry in favor of "Romance, Energy, and Reflection." Here, we discuss the architectural power of the humble narcissus, the nostalgia of hedgerow finds, and why the most beautiful arrangements are often those born from a spontaneous morning snip.

By Flora Vestey

In your new book ‘Atmosfloric: Flower Colour in Home and Garden’ you categorise colour into Romance, Energy, and Reflection. How can someone determine which "mood" their home needs for a Spring refresh?

I think, for me, it’s less about what mood someone’s home needs and more about what mood someone wants to create. I suppose it is about expressing yourself through colour and the garden – finding the atmosphere that most inspires you and running with it. There are no right or wrong answers.

You’ve called the humble Narcissus "architectural." Do you prefer to let them stand alone in a vessel, or do you like to soften their geometry with other blooms?

With daffodils I’m always most interested in using them architecturally. They are such fantastic flowers. The way they stand tall and stately is unlike anything else in the garden - certainly in early spring. For me, it’s always so fun to see them used as cut flowers in a slightly rigid, formal manner.

Does scent dictate where you place an arrangement? For instance, do you style highly fragrant blooms differently than those chosen purely for colour?

Yes, absolutely. Sweet peas by the door and garden roses in the bedroom in summer are scents I look forward to all year. I like to be surprised by flower scent when moving around the house.

With your background in fine art, do you view a floral arrangement like a still-life painting? How do you balance "negative space" in a vase?

Absolutely. But it’s not just the flower display that I view as a still life, it’s also everything going on around it that becomes part of the composition. Furniture, painted walls, keepsakes, books: things needn’t be too thought about, but the ways in which objects interact with the flower display are just as interesting to me as the flowers themselves. I tend not to get caught up in traditional ‘rules’ of a composition – like negative space, the idea of threes. For me, I’m more interested in letting objects tell a story in as uncomplicated way as possible.


Lupins and Delphiniums are cottage classics. What is your favorite "unconventional" element to add to a Spring bouquet to keep it feeling fresh?

Alchemilla mollis and bits of cow parsley from the hedgerows are always spring favourites of mine. Both are unassuming, and not the first flowers people would think of when imagining a vase full of spring abundance, however, they both have a certain nostalgia. An enduring sense of cottage gardens from times gone by.

Could you describe your personal process of bringing the garden inside? Is it a slow, meditative snip or a spontaneous burst of creativity?

I think usually it’s quite spontaneous. There will be something in the morning that I see in the garden that inspires a feeling, a certain mood. I’m interested in capturing the garden’s vitality and sense of boundless freedom indoors, so really it’s always about a certain moment, rarely is a display pre-planned.

For those living in modern "white-box" homes, how can a Spring arrangement be used to inject that sense of storied history and cottage charm?

I think the key is to consider what flowers you are using. The flowers available at supermarkets and most florists are usually out-of-season, imported blooms that have no connection to what is going on in the landscape outside your home. Romance and charm, for me, comes from bringing inside a sense of your surroundings, which is why it’s always flowers from the garden – or local growers – that come into my cottage. If you haven’t got a garden to cut from, there is always something in the landscape – in the woodland or the hedgerows – that can be foraged. Anything is better than imported roses in February! Just remember if foraging from the wild to be considerate and only take small amounts, and never uproot a whole plant.

Do you strictly follow color theory when cutting from the garden, or is there a specific "clash" of colors you find yourself drawn to?

I’m never cutting from the garden with specific colour palettes in mind; I’m never really interested in creating a traditional sense of harmony. In my opinion, the garden has an uncanny way of making colours just work together that would ordinarily seem at odds. I think it’s about allowing yourself a certain freedom to express yourself with flowers and the garden – shaking off supposed ‘rules’ of what things should go together and charting your own path. Not only is that endlessly more personal, but the result is always so much more interesting to me.

For anyone intimidated by "perfect" floral styling, what is one piece of advice to help them simply enjoy the act of placing a flower in a vase?

Don’t overthink it. I think, sadly, there are pre-programmed ideas people tend to have about what makes a successful flower display – restrictive conventions about colour and shape. My advice is always to just let go of any sense of doing it ‘right’ and concern yourself more with how the act of putting flowers together makes you feel. If you let the emotion of putting a flower display together dictate what you’re doing, there really is no right or wrong outcome

When choosing from your vase what’s the first thing you look for? Is it the silhouette, the texture, or the way the neck supports a stem?

Most of time I’m putting flowers is old cups, jugs or bowls - things lying round the house that are uncomplicated and tell a story about the cottage. However, for more considered displays - or when using certain flowers - there will be an element of thought about what vessel is best. If I’m displaying daffodils, for example, I’ll want them to appear shooting up out of shallow container; in this instance, I might use an old pedestal vase with a pin frog to support the stems. But again, it’s often about not thinking about things too much. Don’t labour over what may or may not look best, simply enjoy the process of displaying flowers.

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