Winter Wildflower Wedding

Winter Wildflower Wedding

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Winter weddings are few and far between in Tasmania. The colder months are quiet times for those who provide services for weddings.  This makes me a little sad at times because as a native flower grower, it seems such a waste to miss out on all the gorgeous seasonal flowers that winter brings.  

I was really excited to get a winter wedding request.  It was a small simple wedding with the bride and groom flying in to Hobart from the mainland.  A simple bouquet and boutonniere were all that they needed, but it was such a great opportunity to "play" with some winter blooms.

The brides dress was in deep green silk with rich dark blue patterning.  I decided to go with green and blue and add warm yellow and orange.  The inspiration began with the banksias that were in flower.  In the basket are some Banksia Marginata which grow wild on my property.  The flowers are light fresh lemony yellow.  Wattle was just beginning to bud and I loved the yellow hints with the great texture.  I also picked some branched of Blue Spruce - what a great colour!  And its structure is fantastic too.

Another banksia in bloom was the Banksia Brownii.  Its flowers are less lemony yellow and have a purplish tip.  Brownii foliage is just gorgeous too, and some found its way into the bouquet.

Banksia Ericifolia was flowering prolifically.  I love the rich orange colour with the purple tinges on the tip.  It really worked will with the other banksias.

Going all out with texture, I also added some early Berzelia, some Eucalyptus buds, some Tea Tree and, as blue green highlights, some sweet little succulents.

Winter can be so beautiful!

I love the happy little gum buds sitting proud of the bouquet surface.

You can see the purplish tips of the Banksia Brownii and Banksia Ericifolia here.  I love the way the colour adds depth to the colour scheme.  You can also see just a few Phylica Plumosa flowers.  I picked the very first flowers just days before the July wedding.  Phylica is such a brilliant flower for weddings.

The boutonniere had Phylica too, teamed with the Blue Spruce, Tea Tree and Berzelia, as well as some gorgeous blue green succulents.

It was such a great opportunity to "play" with some stunning winter blooms.  I hope more couples decide not to wait for the warmer weather!

Life on the Farm

Life on the Farm

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Banksia Coccinea bud

Spring is a productive time on a flower farm.  There are signs of life everywhere.  I thought I'd share some of the things that have been going on here at Swallows Nest over the last week or so.  I'm pretty excited about this little bud - its the first of my Banksia Coccinea's to flower.  They were planted around 3 years ago and I've been eagerly awaiting the first flower.  I check the buds almost every day.  Cant wait!

Banksia Ericifolia

Some Banksia Ericifolia that I planted as a windbreak are all flowering too.  I am surprised by the intensity of colour in these blooms.  Such handsome flowers!

Bansia Ericifolia

I love the purple centre contrasting with the yellow and orange.  

Before!

We've been reclaiming territory here.  Blackberry weeds have been slowly invading some large Richea Dracophylla.  I've been panicking about loosing them so this week we attacked the blackberry and set them free.  After only a day we had them back under control, pruned and mulched, and wow!  I can tell they're happy!  

After!

The after shot!  

Richea Dracophylla are a plant endemic to Tasmania.  Their flowers are just coming on now and are really special.  I cant wait to see how well they perform next year, now that we've given them some love.

Richea Dracophylla

Lots of flower spikes almost ready to pick.

Richea Dracophylla

Such a special flower!  

Pruning always uncovers little treasures.  We found 4 abandoned nests in one day - adding to my already large collection.  This little one is lined with fur!

Leucospermum Scarlet Ribbons

One of the jobs I really enjoy at this time of the year is checking the buds on the Pincushions or Leucospermums.  These are a summer crop for us in Tasmania, generally starting in November and with different varieties the flowering continues through to February.  This little bud is going to be a Scarlet Ribbons Pincushion.  The buds need to be checked because sometimes the plant makes 2 or more flower heads at the end of the stem. 

Pincushion Buds

We pick the extra buds off, making sure that one single bloom has enough room to open properly.  The little buds can be "popped" off with your fingers.  I just find it a relaxing thing to do, and it gets you out among your plants, keeping tabs on how they're going.  

Waratah!

Of course the big event of the last couple of weeks is the beginning of the waratah season.  We are looking forward to having these beautiful flowers for sale over the next few of months as we have different varieties with different flowering times.  

Waratah and Richea flowers in a "Get Well" bouquet

Waratahs and Richea flowers will feature in arrangements to say "Get Well", "Farewell" and  "Thank You".  They'll also feature in wedding bouquets and in flowers for a funeral over the next week or so.  It's all part of life as it rolls on into spring and summer for 2014. 

Spring Native Bouquet - Swallows Nest Farm

Fabulous Foliage

Fabulous Foliage

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Grevillea foliage

One of my favourite things about floral design is the foliage.  I know, the flowers are the main event, and I grow them so, well, they're important!  But foliage is the "spice" of an arrangement.  It can make or break a gorgeous bunch of flowers.  Not to mention the incredible colours and textures of foliage! So I love foliage ...  I love the foraging, the discovery of a new bush or tree that has fresh new growth just begging to be picked and admired.  I love the colours - think of the purplish blues of some new eucalyptus growth, or the incredible teal blues of some of the conifers and junipers.  Rich burgundy, pale yellow, silver, soft green, dark rich green - oh the possibilities!  And I love the textures - soft and silky, feathery, wide and structured, spiky, curly, neat, unruly!  

Its the variety that appeals.  Foliage is not just "greenery".  It can be so much more.  Some of our australian natives produce some spectacular foliage.  Grevilleas often have amazing leaves, and are often on sturdy long stems.  I use grevilleas growing around my home to provide the structure for a bouquet.  I have some maroon and orange flowering hybrids the have wonderfully shaped leaves.  As a bonus, they often have a flower or two on each stem, adding more colour.  Look for leaves that have new growth that's firm, not floppy.  Pick them as long as you can, following the stem back into the bush to find where it joins onto the branch.  Put them in water soon after you pick them and they'll stay fresh for weeks.  (You'll know if you've picked too soon - the smaller leaves at the end of the stems will wilt.)

Sometimes, when foraging for foliage, you need to be selective about stems that have insect damage.  I personally don't mind a little bit of damage - I think it adds charm.  But on the whole, it's good to select the stems with the cleanest, freshest leaves.  Putting foliage in a vase or arrangement shines a spotlight on it.  It comes under more scrutiny than it would on a bush or tree.  It's easier to make the selections out in the bush and leave the damaged leaves to the insects and wildlife that clearly love it too!

Banksia Grandis

These Banksia Grandis leaves are just spectacular, aren't they!  They are quite large - around 30 cm long and 5 cm wide, and deeply zig-zagged.  There are a number of Banksias that have leaves like this, but varying in size.  Speciosa has long slender zig-zags.  Banksia Baxterii has less curled and scaled down versions of these incredible shapes.  And Banksia Brownii has long, fine zig zags.  They're incredible to use in an arrangement.

Banksia Speciosa

Even grasses can be used as foliage.  At this time of year with grasses full of summer growth and setting seed, they can be really gorgeous in an arrangement.  I love driving along country roads in summer and seeing the incredible variety of colours and textures just in the roadside grasses.  Purple, yellow, pink, white - and all manner of shapes and textures.  

I have a number of favourite foraging spots on my property.  One of them is at the top of a steep rise where you can glimpse the town, the bay and the little local islands through the incredibly tall eucalypts that have been untouched for 50 years.  In the undergrowth on the edge of the bush there are some fabulous native plants growing.  One I discovered not long after we moved here, really caught my eye.  I looked it up and found that it was actually sold as foliage for the export market!  And here it was growing wild in the bush.  It's called Pimelea Nivea.  

Pimelea Nivea

My "Plants of Tasmania" book tells me it's common name is Bushman's Bootlace.  I found out why it got this name the first time I tried to pick it.  The bark or outer coating of the stem is incredibly strong and fibrous, and when you try to snap a branch the bark won't break, instead coming off in long, seemingly unbreakable strips. Next time I used my shears!  The leaves are small and richly green and glossy.  The growth habit of the plant is long and slender, with lots of long upright branches covered in the green leaves.

Underneath, the leaves and stem are white and softly sueded.  The contrast is really charming.  Pimelea Nivea also has lovely flowers in spring and summer.  Clusters of dainty white flowers appear on the very ends of the stems.  I love using this foraged foliage whether its in flower or not.  And the adventure of picking it in the "wild" adds to my enjoyment of it!

This is a recent vase of flowers I made for my house, using entirely foraged foliage and a few of my summer pincushions.  It was such fun to combine the colours and textures of the foliage, and highlight them with the simple orange pincushions.  

I couldn't do a blog post about foliage without making a special mention of eucalyptus foliage.  Our own australian gums provide some of the world's most popular foliages.  Again, the variety of colour, texture and shape is almost dizzying.  Some eucalyptus foliage has that incredible silvery white bloom that, combined with the colour of the leaves underneath produces some spectacular colour effects.  This basket above is filled with foliage from a medium sized gum behind my house.  People often ask, "what is that flowering tree?" when they see it from a distance  The foliage is almost iridescent, glowing purple.  I'm not sure of the type gum, but I find myself coming back to it again and again for inspiration.  Silver dollar is one of the most well known eucalypts sold as foliage.  But considering we are surrounded by them, why not experiment!  Have a look in your back yard and see what you can create!

Thinking About Weddings - The Bouquet

Thinking About Weddings - The Bouquet

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In Tasmania, its not often you get someone wanting to plan a wedding during the winter months.  The weather is a major factor in planning a big day here in the southern-most state of Australia.  Spring and summer are the busy times for weddings, and at Swallows Nest we are excited to be providing flowers for a some weddings over the next few months.  

Proteas and Natives are not the traditional wedding flower, but they are becoming much more popular, and with good reason.  I know I am biased, but really, they do have so much more to offer than many people realise.  Natives offer an incredible range of colour and texture that can lend themselves to both modern and traditional type weddings.   They can be rustic, and simple or sophisticated and sharp.  They can be feminine and soft, or bold and expressive.  Its all in the way you combine the colours, textures and forms.  And then of course, theres the fact that most Natives are hardy and long lasting and  remove the worry of a wilting bouquet!

I've been doing some research into the uses of Natives for weddings so I thought I'd share a few of the ideas I've found.  The internet is awash with ideas and I've recently discovered Pinterest - a serious risk for time-wasting, but full of wonderful ideas for just about everything.  There are some lovely images of weddings that have used natives in creative and beautiful ways, and I've been really inspired.  

The Bouquet, really the central floral point of any wedding, is the focus of these finds.

This beautiful bouquet uses Pink Ice proteas with a variety of Leucadendrons (two variegated forms called Jester and Corringle Gold) and a mix of other beautiful folidages.  There are also some Banksias - what look like Speciosa and Occidentalis.  It has an informal, softly coloured beauty. 

(www.blushingblooms.com.au)

The use of proteas in this bouquet is a different take on a more traditional wedding bouquet shape.  I love the use of eucalyptus foliage too, for the colour and form it adds.  

(the brides diary)

This is another combination bouquet, using Banksia Baxterii as the main flower and combining it with more traditional flowers.  I love the vibrancy of this one!

More Banksia Baxterii in this one, but adding some Hakea nuts and paper daisies.  I love the leaves of the Banksia Baxterii and I think they've been used well in this cute posy-style bouquet.

There is a great range of whites in the protea family, perfect for weddings!  This is a combination of mini King Protea and white Protea Nerifolia, with the lovely soft black fringing. A few magnolia leaves complete this simple, informal bouquet.

For a spring wedding, Waratahs are a spectacular wedding flower.  I love this bouquet which in addition to the gorgeous red waratahs, also has flannel flower, gum nuts, everlasting daisies, leucadendron, serruria or blushing bride,  and a form of brunia.  

(i-do.com.au)

Waratah's are also available in white and, as this bouquet shows, are really well suited for a wedding too.  This bouquets combines them with leucadendron, wax flower, blushing bride or serruria, and some blue flowers that look like cornflowers.  Gorgeous!

(thebloomroom.net.au)

I recently did a wedding with an orange and black theme.  The colours and textures of spring were perfect - yellow green Phyllica, Leucadendron Maui Sunset and Red Gem, the bright yellow pom poms of Leucadendron Tall Red, soft Silver Tree foliage and Berzelia or Button Bush all together to form this fresh bright bouquet.  

This fabulous native bouquet uses Banksia Coccinea and Protea as the main flowers, with Safari Sunset Leucadendrons, and what look like a yellow Salignum Leuco.  Very memorable!

(www.gingerdesigns.com.au)

Another Swallows Nest Farm bouquet, with simple spring flowers includes an early Waratah, and some Protea Pink Ice, surrounded by soft yellows and greens.  There are Leucadendron Gandogeri, Phyllica Pubescens, Leucadendron Silver Tree, and Berzelia or Button Bush,  a wedding favourite.  Adding white highlights is Thryptomene.  

I'm looking forward to the pincushions coming out here at Swallows Nest.  They are later here than on the mainland of Australia, and go right up until just after Christmas.  Faboulous for weddings in shades of yellow, orange and red, with some beautiful soft colours available too.
(koruwedding.blogspot.com.au)

More Pink Ice Protea with Leucadendrons, Flannel flower, Thryptomene and beautiful Eucalyptus pods.  Wow!

Last one - I promise!  Although there's so many beautiful native bouquets!!  I love this freestyle bouquet with my favourite Brunia Albiflora, Eucalyptus pods, foliage, and Leucadendrons.  Gorgeous!!

(Flowers By Megga Bloom)

I hope you're inspired!  I hope you've seen the versatility, variety and beauty that natives can bring to a special occasion like a wedding.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the "wedding season" here is Tasmania, hoping to get lots more opportunities to explore what can be done with these fabulous flowers.