Dryandra Formosa

Dryandra Formosa

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Dryandra Formosa is a beautiful Australian Native Flower that I've begun to grow at Swallows Nest Farm.  It is an unusual flower that is from the Proteaceae family, as are many other well known Australian Native flowers.  As recently as 2007 it has been re-classified at a Banksia, so is now known as Banksia Formosa.  Its common name is Showy Dryandra, and it is!

The flowers are golden and at once furry and bristly - a strange combination which makes sense when you see them begin to open more.  The bristles are very firm, almost plastic-like.   A fibrous golden top, when all clumped together, forms the "furry" look.  It has the appearance of velvet and catches the sunlight in a similar way.   

The colour is difficult to describe too - golden orange, or old gold would be my best words to describe it. 

Another feature of this unusual flower is that the leaves almost become part of the flower.  The leaves grow immediately below the flower and are long and deeply zig-zagged.  They are beautiful to use as a cut foliage.

Like most proteaceae plants, what we call the "flowers" are actually many small individual flowers clumped together.  The diagram above shows that each bristle is an individual flower.

With so many flowers in each flower head, there are many opportunities for seeds.  When you look at the seed heads of the Dryandra Formosa you can see why they've been re-classified as Banksias.  The seed heads are very banksia-like, as are the seeds which are very dark and attached to a papery film, just like banksia seeds.  Showy Dryandra grow well from seed.  

Dryandra or Banksia Formosa are a great flower to use for weddings.  You can see how the leaves are put to good use in the boutonnieres above.  I love the way the leaves sit haphazardly.  

The young flowers really catch the light because of the velvety texture.  They look great in corsages too. Here, the young flowers are teamed with Pimelea Nivea or Bushman's Bootlace, Lipstick Boronia, Berzelia buttons and Grevillea.

The effect is different when the flower is more mature and the velvety texture is replaced with the tips of the bristles.  Still lovely, just different.  In this boutonniere, it is teamed with a Blusing Bride Serruria flower, Berzelia buttons, and flowering gum.  

I really love the colour of this flower!  It's not a "hit you in the eye" colour but it just provides so much depth.  There are times when the colour combinations just sing!  I think the wreath above would be a bit bland without the Showy Dryandra.

Again, in a brides bouquet, the Showy Dryandra really makes the colour palette.  There's nothing else that adds the colour and texture quite like these amazing Australian Native blooms.  

Early Spring Wedding

Early Spring Wedding

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Spring is a fabulous time for native flowers, and a fabulous time for weddings.  I get to put the two together when I'm doing spring wedding flowers!   Early this spring,  I did flowers for a lovely Hobart bride who wanted bouquets with highlights and pops of colour. 

The bride's bouquet combined the creamy white of Maui Sunset Leucadendrons, a late-winter or early-spring flowering leuco, with one of the first of flowers from a newly planted Protea called White Ice.  White highlights were added with Bushman's Bootlace, a local native Pimelea.  

Providing pops of colour were early flowering Waratahs in rich deep pinky red, Protea Satin Mink in pink with black fringing, and the startling pink of Boronia which also smells fantastic, which made working with the bouquet all the more enjoyable.  

Dryandra Formosa, with its glowing golden flowers and beautiful leaves provides texture, as does the fabulous Berzelia.  It's green in early spring and is such a great texture plant right through the season until it bursts into fluffy white flowers just before summer.  I also used some native Tasmanian Richea Dracophylla flowers which you can just see poking out on the left at the rear of the bouquet.  

The grooms boutonniere combined all the colours and textures of the bouquets in a tiny package.  I love the colour combination of the dryandra and boronia.  That pink really packs a punch!

Groomsmen's boutonnieres were a simple combination of the golden dryandra, some berzelia and pimelea.  

I really enjoyed the opportunity to play with these early spring flowers.  I hope the bride and groom had a brilliant day.

Native Spring Wedding Flowers

Native Spring Wedding Flowers

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October is a brilliant month for native flowers.  A bride is spoilt for choice!  Last October I was privileged to be able to provide flowers for a wedding at MONA in Hobart.  The bride and groom were from Sydney so NSW Waratah's were a perfect choice.  My Telopea Speciosissima hybrids were just bursting with colour.  

The bride was wearing gold, so the red was really a standout colour.  I added Dryandra Formosa flowers to tie in the gold.  They are at their height in early to mid spring.  

The Dryandra leaves also add a  lovely textural quality to the bouquet.  They have a fine, zig-zag shape and fall at nice angles.

For the flower girl's bouquet, I chose some smaller waratahs to keep the size and weight manageable.   The bright pink is added by Boronia which not only creates a burst of colour, but smells divine, making it a pleasure to handle.  I used Leucadendron Lemon Spice, a selection of the female Leucadendron Discolour.  In spring its colour is spectacular, changing from a sage green to a gorgeous creamy ivory with a pink blush.  

Another ingredient I loved using for this wedding was some fresh green eucalyptus pods, immature and not ready to flower until summer.  In their immature state, they are bright green, and the textural quality adds another layer of interest to a bouquet bursting with spring goodness.  

In early October, the Berzelia or Button Bush is just ready to begin picking.  The "buttons" are green and they add another fresh textural layer to the spring native bouquet.  

One of the things I loved about this wedding was that the bride was particular about the boutonnieres.  The groom wanted white.  For the Fathers, I was given pictures of the suits and ties they were wearing, so I could create something that worked well.  It was a great way to work.  

White was a little tricky with so much colour available!  I used both wax flower and thryptomene (another duo that are fabulously perfumed) teamed with Berzelia and an immature Leucadendron Silver Tree cone.

The Silver Tree cone really glows. 

For the Fathers' boutonnieres, I used small waratahs.  I usually cull these smaller flowers, pruning them off the bushes and leaving them.  They are pretty but too small and often at odd angles so no good for selling wholesale.   I decided that they were perfect button holes for this spring wedding though - like a scaled down version of the main bouquet flowers. I like the way the red bracts surrounding the flower sit at interesting angles.

For the other boutonnieres, I used Dryandra.   These Australian Natives have a strong almost citrusy smell that can be a bit overpowering when they are first picked so I pick them a week early and sit them in the cold room till it fades a little.  They are teamed up with Lipstick Boronia and wax flower.  

Such a joyous combination of spring goodness! 

Natives are a vibrant and memorable choice for a spring wedding.

Thinking About Weddings - Boutonniere

Thinking About Weddings - Boutonniere

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 Boutonniere is a french word meaning 'button hole' and is the name for a flower or small bouquet worn on the lapel of a man's jacket.  Boutonniere have an interesting history, with some suggesting the practice started with flowers being worn by men going into battle.  The boutonniere was very popular in Victorian times. Suits were made with a special opening and loop on the lapel so as to accommodate a flower, usually a carnation.  More recently, the boutonniere has become something worn only on special occasions.  The button hole on the lapel has almost disappeared from modern suits and the boutonniere has evolved into a single flower or small bouquet that is wired, taped and pinned to the left jacket lapel.

Natives are brilliant flowers for weddings, and in the case of boutonniere they really shine.  If natives are well prepared,  they can last really well removing worry about wilting which can be a problem for boutonnieres.  With an increasing focus on locally and sustainably grown seasonal produce, native flowers are becoming much more popular as wedding flowers.

I've spent a lot of time on the internet, trawling through wedding blogs and sites and found there was a lack of inspiring native boutonniere collections, so I thought I'd make one!  Some of these are my own work, and some are ideas that I've found on my "travels".  I hope you find some inspiration here.

These buttonholes feature the intensely coloured Tasmanian Waratah.  A November wedding was perfect as these natives are at their best in late spring.  The bride themed her wedding colours around these beautiful Tassie blooms with ivory, red and grey.  The grooms buttonhole stands out using a larger specimen and adding a red leucadendron.  The foliage is Agonis Flexuosa and the white Berzelia or Button Bush adds the gorgeous ivory highlight to make these bouttoniere really special.   

Dryandra are an Australian native from the protea family.  They are wonderful long lasting flowers with leaves that have a lovely texture and growth habit.  This early spring boutonniere utilises the Dryandra Formosa flower and highlights the zig zag foliage.  The golden Dryandra is teamed with early season Berzelia or Button Bush, still fresh green before the white flowers emerge, and a glossy gum leaf.  

This groom's boutonniere was from a January wedding with an Australian Native theme.  A large gum nut foraged in spring and dried with the seeds removed is the main "flower".  It is teamed with a Leucadendron Pisa, picked late so its central cone glows silvery green.  Some Berzelia Button Bush adds creamy white.  The background foliage is the lovely Nothofagus Cunninghamii or Myrtle - glossy green dainty leaves bely the sturdiness of this fabulous foliage.  There is also a Leucadendron Christmas Cone giving a touch of red.

A summer boutonniere using an orange Grevillea flower and foliage, teamed with some cyprus foliage. The addition of dried summer grasses adds texture for a rustic, country wedding.  

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This larger style boutonniere uses the ever popular Safari Sunset Leucadendron and teams it with some lovely textured foliage.  I love the colour of the leucadendron against the suit fabric.  The green really makes it pop.

Polkadot Bride

These gorgeous boutonniere are fun and light.  They use Leucadendron Pisa, Flannel Flowers and Serruria or Blushing Bride, and team them with some light native foliage.  The two attendants buttonholes are smaller and utilise one main flower.  The grooms buttonhole is distinguished by being larger, and incorporating all of the blooms used.  This is a great way of getting variety and making sure the most important boutonniere stands out.

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I love this buttonhole using eucalyptus buds with feathers.  I think they work really well with the fabric of the suit.  The colour of the twine used to wrap the stems really makes the buttonhole work too.

Lost In Fibre

These boutonniere are a great example of how "mismatched" can really work!  They are all different, but the rustic, textured style ties them all together.  As long as the groom stands out in the crowd, theres no reason why all the buttonholes need to be the same.

These late summer boutonniere are "mismatched" again.  Working on a theme using pink and orange they use lots of different natives.  They are tied together by the common use of twine and the foliage - zig zag Banksia foliage and cyprus.  Some of the flowers used are Geraldton Wax, Grevillea, Kangaroo Paw, Boronia, Summer Grass, and dried Leucadendron Cones.  

This is the grooms boutonniere from the same wedding as the picture above.  It uses a selection of the other flowers but adds Brunia, tying it in with the brides bouquet.  It is also bigger overall, making sure the groom is the star of the show!

Hopefully, you've found some inspiration for a native flower wedding here.
For more boutonniere ideas, see my Swallows Nest Farm Pinterest board or the Martha Stewart Weddings list of Boutonniere.