Rosemary Valentine Wreath
By Karen Lee Hegre

Give this dainty, heart-shaped decoration to your Valentine or lovingly decorate your home.

You will need:

Heavy-gauge wire
Wire cutters
Slender sprays of rosemary
Florists silver wire
4 Wheat stalks
Scissors
Dried herbs/flowers such as rosebuds, lady's mantle, Queen Anne's lace and helichrysum
Satin ribbon, 1/2 inch wide

Although, traditionally red roses and rosebuds signify true love, include some yellow roses and cream flowers to lighten the design a little and to give it variety. The rosemary symbolizes love, fidelity and remembrance. "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you love, remember." The wheat symbolizes riches, prosperity and friendliness. A single red rose symbolizes everlasting love. Yellow roses symbolize joy. Pink roses symbolize perfect happiness.

Twist the wire into a circle. Then, by pinching it at the base and the top, make it into a heart shape. You can make it any size you want, but the one I made measures 8 inches in length.

Cut short sprays of rosemary and bind two or three together on the frame with silver wire.

Place together two wheat stalks. Cut two more stalks into several short lengths and fasten these to the top of the two long stalks. They will form the top of the decoration. Bind short sprays of rosemary and the dried flowers along the length of the stalk, placing the rosebuds so that they face in opposite directions.

Tie the ribbon close to the top of the stalks so that it conceals the first stem binding. Fasten the stalk to the top and base of the heart and tuck in small flower sprays to conceal the wires. Wire a single red rose to the inside center of the heart.

The rosemary will gradually dry on the decoration if it is hung in a warm, dry atmosphere. Then it will become a lasting token.

Note: The decorated wheat stalks run vertically up and down in the center of the wreath.

Karen Lee Hegre is a Master Gardener living in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she maintains a backyard wildlife habitat certified by the National Wildlife Federation called 'Hegre's Heavenly Half Acre'.