November Wedding

November Wedding

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It's such a thrill to be part of someones special wedding day - I love doing flowers for weddings!  Erica's wedding was in November and in Tasmania that can be a tricky time for weather.  It was obviously not the case on that particular day!  What a wonderful spot for a wedding.

I "met" Erica internet style.  She was a customer in my trees4thewood online store and discovered my flower farming activities online.   Having worked on the Overland Track, a world famous bush walking track through spectacular Tasmanian wilderness, she was keen to use Tasmanian Waratahs for the main flower in her wedding bouquet.  These gorgeous flowers grow wild in areas along the track and you can't miss them when they are in flower.  

I was excited to be asked to provide her flowers and had a ball creating something to show off the Tasmanian Waratah.  As you can see, the colours she chose for the wedding are really styled around the waratah.  Ivory, grey and red are a classic combination.

What a fabulous day for a beach wedding!  The colour of that sea is just spectacular.  And I think it really makes that gorgeous red just glow.  The brides and bridesmaid's bouquets use Tasmanian Waratah, Safari Sunset Leucadendron, Berzelia (Button Bush), Agonis Flexuosa foliage and Eucalyptus foliage.  We decided to remove the waratah's leaves so as not to have too much green in the bouquet.  At that time of year, red and green can look a little christmassy.

Mini bouquet for a 3 year old flower girl! Cute!! And what a handsome little guy too.

The grooms boutonniere or button hole - Berzelia (Button Bush), Waratah, Leucadendron and Agonis Flexuosa foliage.

Thanks so much for letting me be part of your day, Erica!  It looks like it was a very memorable and happy one.

One month and a little bit

One month and a little bit

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I am so anxious to re-live our wonderful celebration and creation of our little family through pictures and video of our most precious day yet. Looking back on that windy day in November, everything went as well as it possibly could have. Of course we had no way to plan for unkind, temperature-dropping wind but other than that the day couldn't have gone better!

Of course I didn't have the time

The Black Fringe

The Black Fringe

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There are hundreds of species of Protea - and so many more when you add the lovely hybrids.  One of the most well-known traits of a Protea flower is the fringing.  At Swallows Nest Farm, we grow a small number of bushes of this lovely Protea Neriifolia, which as you can see, has a spectacular black fringe.  This pink variety reminds me of a 1950s party dress, with its bright colouring and black trim.  The Neriifolia flowers over a long period of the year, and at the moment is producing some beautiful flowers on lovely long stems.  I have had fun photographing these beauties, trying to capture their shape, colour and texture.

This is a close up of an immature flower, showing the "hairy" fringe beginning to turn black.

This photo captures a whole flower bud.  You can see that the fringing is white at this stage.  The black develops as the flower reaches maturity.

In this picture, you can see the difference between the Protea Neriifolia, and the hybrid that is the staple of the cut flower industry, the Protea Pink Ice.  The shape, arrangement of petals and black fringing are immediately apparent.  The centre mound of flower spikes differ in colour too.  

At this time of year, the pink of the proteas looks spectacular with the yellow Inca Gold Leucadendrons, and the dainty pink and white Thryptomene.  

The Protea Neriifolia are a stunning addition to a bouquet.  I really love them!