WEDDING FLOWERS: Summer Flowers
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Showing posts with label Summer Flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Flowers. Show all posts

Bartle Hall Dressed to Impress with Glorious Summer Flowers

The completely fabulous Bartle Hall dressed impeccably for one of their Open Days , we had the pleasure of decorating both the Balmoral Suite in the courtyard and the Windsor Suite in the Manor House, we decided on a full on Summer vibe for the table designs in the Balmoral Suite, a glorious array of rich vibrant colour and soft summer pastels, tall and lower designs, classically elegant and romantically rustic we had it all...

A low rustic design set on stacked seed trays, posies of fresh Peonies, Dahlias, English Garden Roses arranged in jam jars and illuminated by candlelit votives, the table stationery was designed to match and was created by the fabulous Charlotte Designs

Loving all of the details in this beautiful table design, the small 'Jam Jar Posies' can be used as Pew End Posies for a Church Wedding or Chair dressings for a civil marriage

Our  Crystal Cake Stand topped with Coral, Peach & Ivory English Garden Roses, White & Coral Peonies with Stocks and Hydrangeas
Our spectacularly tall table designs set on super tall glass cylinder vase with floating tea light orbs
Our beautiful Baroque Candelabra with masses of Peonies and Roses
Our tall conical vase topped with white Hydrangeas and Coral Peonies and Roses, this beautiful arrangement can be used on top of a tall urn and pedestal stand for your ceremony
A golden Pineapple vase filled with red roses and burgundy & blush Peonies





A voluptuous top table design of Stocks, Veronica, Peonies, Roses, Hydrangeas & Sweet Peas





Sunflowers, Roses, Hydrangeas, Craspedia in yellows and blues dressed our silver candelabra






Outside in the summer house a Registrars table design in ruby reds and blush pink shades
Inside the Windsor Suite the scene was set for a winter ceremony the start of the aisle framed by two of our Enchanted Trees
The Registrars table was dressed with a rustic design set on slices of tree









Pincushion Proteas

Spring and early summer are so busy here!  Every year I lament the fact that Christmas falls in our busy season in the Southern Hemisphere.  How nice it must be to have Christmas in the quieter months!  There are definitely some benefits of a summer Christmas though - fresh berries and stone fruit and summery tropical fruits - pavlova drenched with summer berries, long days (with daylight savings) and the long relaxing twilight, trips the beach …. ok, I take it back.  I love Christmas in summer!  But it sure is a busy time of year.  


 I can't imagine Christmas time without flowers either.  Leucospermums, commonly called Pincushions are in full bloom here in late spring and into summer.  They have become synonymous with summer for me.  I am picking trailer-loads of them at the moment and so I thought I'd show off a few. 


   Leucospermums are from the Protea family.  They are a South African plant, as many proteas are, but are closely related to many Australian native plants.  The variety above is a hybrid called Mardi Gras.  The buds are silvery and hairy and are actually a composite of many tiny flowers seeming to create a single flower head.

L. Mardi Gras
As they open the colour is revealed.

L. Mardi Gras
The "pins" from which they get their common name, "pincushion",  are yellow in the Mardi Gras variety.  They emerge from the the special petal called a tepal.  When the style pops out the tepal curls inward revealing another colour, in this case bright red.  The pins begin to emerge from the outer edge of the bloom first and work their way in to the centre until all the pins are sitting out.


Pincushions flower over a relatively short period, but it is quite intense, with the bushes being covered with flowers.  


Fully grown Mardi Gras bushes are laden with flowers in early December.  


The Mardi Gras are usually the first variety to flower at Swallows Nest Farm.  They are closely followed by these gorgeous red Pincushions called Scarlet Ribbons.  I love the colouring of these flowers.


When they first begin to open, the pins are a salmon pink and the hairy tepals give a purplish tinge to the overall look of the flower.  


But as they open more, it becomes obvious why the variety was named "Scarlet Ribbons" as the inside of the tepals is a rich scarlet red.  

Fresh Wreath by Swalllows Nest Farm with Scarlet Ribbons Pincushions
Of course, this is great for Christmas time!  Leucaspermums are great in fresh wreaths.

Mixed Pincusion bunches for Christmas
Christmas bunches often look like this!  Bright summery colours.  
The next Pincushion to flower here is the orange Leucospermum Cordifolium,  with bright orange flowers and long slender stems.  

Leucospermum Cordifolium
This variety tend to flower over a more extended period of time so we get to enjoy them for longer.  I love the little yellow stigma on the end of each style, glowing like little lights.  

The Cordifolium isn't hairy like the other varieties I've mentioned, and the overall shape is more rounded.  You can see from the photo above how the Leucospermum is clearly related to some of our Australian plants from the protea family.  Grevilleas flower in much the same way, with bundles of small "flowers" arranged to create what we call the flowerhead.  And the styles and tepals are similar too.  

Grevillea


Cordifoliums are such a happy flower! Those bright yellow stigma at the end of the pins really glow don't they!

Fresh Christmas Wreath with Cordifolium, Wax Flower, Gum Nuts and Leucodendrons
I love the citrusy colour combinations that you can create with Pincushions - so fresh and summery.

Leucospermum Fountain

Our last variety to flower, beginning towards the end of December and continuing into January, is the gorgeous Leucospermum Fountain.  It's a different shape to the others, being more flattened and open.  It has a softer, subtle orange colouring but with the purplish tinge to the tepals, like the Scarlet Ribbon variety. 

Leucospermum Fountain


You can see the difference in colouring here, between the Fountain on the left, and the Cordifolium on the right (theres a Mardi Gras in the middle there too).  The softer apricot of the Fountain is really appealing and great to mix with purples, pinks and soft blue green eucalyptus foliage.  


The colour of Fountain gets richer as they age.  


Fountain can continue to flower even into February here.  I used it in a February wedding this year.  The bridesmaids were wearing apricot and the Fountains really looked great!


Pincushions, or Leucospermums are a great summer flower, and really create a summery Christmas feel.  Enjoy them when they're available!




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