Engagement Photoshoot in April

Engagement Photoshoot in April

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Tasmania has a reputation as a tourism destination, and I find that often couples like to combine a special event in their lives with a trip to our fair shores.  This April, a gorgeous couple decided to celebrate their engagement with a holiday and photoshoot.  What a fun thing to do! 

An eclectic mix of natives with lots of colour and texture was the idea for the bouquet.

The flowers needed to travel well as the photos were taken in various places over the course of a few days.  

Protea Repens in both light pink and rich pink, both flowering and non-flowering Brunia, Protea White Mink, Banksia Burdettii and Banksia Brownii were the larger flowers that I used.  Leucadendron Galpinii (Purple Haze), Safari Sunset, and Leucadendron Discolour were the secondary flowers.  

A range of foliage including Tasmanian Myrtle Beech, Risdon Peppermint, and Banksia Brownii added fullness.  I also added some dried leucadedonron cones which are a rich autumny brown.

Beautiful!

By the looks of the gorgeous pictures, they had a wonderful trip!

And the photos will make great memories too.

For the boutonniere, I used a dried leucadendron cone so that there were no wilting issues along the trail.  The Banksia Burdettii leaves are so gorgeous with their zig-zag edges, and they were teamed with Myrtle Beech, Risdon Peppermint among other bits and pieces.  

The iconic view of Cradle Mountain from Dove Lake - definitely a memorable destination for a special occasion!

What a fun job!  I wonder where they'll go for the wedding?

Christmas Time!

Christmas Time!

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Christmas is fast approaching and I've started the annual Christmas Wreath making, one of my favourite Christmas activities.  I have a number of different styles planned which I'm looking forward to making.  There is so much variety in colour and texture at this time of year, which makes it a joy to get creative with flowers.

This year, I've decided to streamline the ordering process and use my Swallows Nest Farm online shop to handle the payments.  This way if you're a Hobart local, you can order and pay with credit card or paypal.
Here's a link to the listing.

There are three different styles you can choose from this year.  "Traditional" is your typical Christmas colouring - red and green with added holly.

Christmassy and full of fresh native goodness!

The second style is "Citrus" - yellows, oranges, and greens in a celebration of our Australian summery Christmas.

The third style is "Surprise Me!", where you give me permission to get creative with colour and come up with a unique design for your wreath.  So far, its proving to be the favourite style which has made me happy!

I love the opportunities for endless combinations of colour, texture and pattern that floral wreaths give.  Playing with flowers is a beautiful job to have.

I hope you have a wonderful, joy filled Christmas and that you have time to enjoy the beauty of the season wherever you find yourself.  

Foraging Fun - Forest Candles

Foraging Fun - Forest Candles

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I have developed a love of foraging!  Often, I'll be driving along the road and a plant will catch my eye but I'm usually on my way somewhere with a car full of kids,  and can't stop.   So reecently I went for a drive with the intention of wandering and discovering,  and was rewarded by finding this gorgeous flower.  It really caught my eye, being so bright among the other native shrubs growing beside the road.  

Forest Candles - Stackhousia Monogyna

 Closer inspection revealed a plant that grows from a central mass with many stems, all tipped with clusters of flowers.  I cut a generous bunch to bring home!

My trusty "Flowers and Plants of Tasmania" tells me this beauty is Stackhousia Monogyna or Forest Candles, a perenial herb.  It grows in heaths and open forests from sea level to alpine regions.  These were found in heath beside a country road near the coast here on the Tasman Peninsula.  They grow up to 60cm and have a pretty perfume as night falls.

Further research reveals that Forest Candles, whilst widespread across all states of Australia except the Northern Territory, is not well known and rarely cultivated.  It flowers in spring and summer when, as its name suggests, it stands out brightly amongst the other vegetation.  

I am really quite blown away by the beauty of these "Forest Candles".  And it has certainly encouraged my foraging tendencies.  Prepare for future foraging finds!!

Spring!

Spring!

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Well spring is definitely here at Swallows Nest Farm.  In fact, it arrived a few days before the end of August with some very warm, beautiful blue-sky days and lots of spring colour in the flowers.  And of course the swallows are back for the summer.  They seem to be having such fun dipping and diving and reclaiming their nests left abandoned over the winter.

We've been in full swing preparing for the warmer months with lots of pruning and reclaiming areas that were let go over the last few years.  (We've been busy with our baby girl who has major health issues and this has meant the farm has been a little neglected in areas.)  Whilst doing some heavy duty pruning during the week I came across this gorgeous little nest.  It's tiny with the eggs being around the size of the end of my thumb.  So cute!! And definitely a sign of spring.

And there has been no shortage of gorgeous weather over the last few weeks.  Wow!  It makes your heart skip a beat sometimes.

Of course, the bulbs are blooming madly.  While we were out driving the other day, we came across this incredible field of daffodils.  Spring!! With a capital S!!

Yellow is such a "springy" colour.  And set against those clear blue skies, it just sings.  The Leucadendron Safari Goldstrikes are glowing and gorgeous.

I've been madly picking them.  They're so much bigger and more productive than last year.

And the stem length has been fantastic!  1.4 metres tall, some of them are.  And they've been generously snipped leaving plenty on the plant.  I think they're almost too tall to use ... maybe!

Our local school hosts a flower show just as spring starts and we love to donate flowers.  It's just another indicator that the seasons are turning - lots of fresh new spring colours!

And that amazing, glowing yellow!

The flower show is always a feast for the eyes.  These little beauties were done by the kids at the school.  

The huge variety of daffodils are truly mind blowing!!

The variety of natives available in spring is fantastic too, and makes it a delight to create bouquets and bunches.  I'm going to soak up the blue-sky days and the riot of colour while I can, because I know that spring can also bring cruel winds, and freezing weather.  It snowed here in September last year!  There's so much to be done around the farm in spring and in the business of harvesting, time will fly and before I know it, summer will arrive.  But I'm intent on savouring the sweet moments of spring this year!

Hello Winter

Hello Winter

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Winter is here.  There is always just a little sadness heading into winter.  I find myself almost grieving  at the turning of the season.  Autumn has its beauty and in Tasmania, I think its possibly the best season.  (So difficult to pick!)  But prior to the solstice, the onset of winter can make me feel a little sad, with no apparent reason.  

And then, like waking from a dream, I remember its charms!  There are misty, foggy days that make you feel like you're the only person on the planet. 

The rain is so refreshing, so life-giving.  The plants drink it up and seem so full of life.  

The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos that live around the Tasman Peninsula are more often about, singing their raucous songs.

Winter has its own beauty.  And I remember that I love it!  I love the short days and warm fires, the crisp morning air,  the moss,  the rain, the mist, and I LOVE the colour!! Although this is my sixth winter at Swallows Nest, I still am surprised by the intensity of the winter colour that our plants produce.  Yellow that seems to trap the sunlight and glow, startling pink and red, lime green, and pale buttery yellow, peach, and white.  

And then there are those euphoric blue-sky days that have such clarity as you look up that you feel as if there is nothing but sunlight between you and the rest of the universe.  

Winter is also a busy time with planting, clearing, pruning and picking.  So forgive the recent lack of blog posts!  In the next few days I will catch you up on the flowers that are making winter so colourful here at the moment.  

What's your favourite thing about winter? ....

Banksia Occidentalis

Banksia Occidentalis

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Banksia Occidentalis is a Western Australian banksia from the coastal areas around Esperence.  Its natural habitat there is low lying sandy areas that are sometimes inundated with water for a period of time, giving this gorgeous flower the unflattering name of Swamp Banksia. 

 This makes it stand out from the crowd though, as it can tolerate more moist soils than other banksias which usually prefer very free draining soil.  Banksias, like many Australian native flowers, are part of the protea family.  As a "protea grower" I was keen to try some banksias to see how they would fare on my Tasmanian hillside, so I did a test plant of some of these stunning flowers. 

The bushes were tiny tubestock when I planted them out into the paddock just over 3 years ago. I have been really surprised at how vigorously they've grown.  I hate to think how tall they'd be if I hadn't pruned them regularly each spring and autumn - they are between 2 and 3 metres high as it is.  This coming year will be the test of whether I can keep them small enough to pick, or whether they'll get away from me.

I've been really happy with the amount of flowers they've produced this autumn too.  Some of the flowers are unusable as they grow out from the base at odd angles.  I'm still learning about training the plants to produce flowers where I'd like them to be ... and unsure if that's even possible!  The flower spikes in this picture are just reaching the stage of development where they begin to turn red.

In this picture you can see flower spikes at different stages of development - a green spike at the bottom middle of the picture is the earliest stage, then the spikes begin to thicken and "puff" out, creating the familiar tidy rows of stamen.  The red flower spike still has a few days to go before its ready to pick.  I've found that the colour needs to develop on the plant, so I let the colour intensify before I pick.

In this macro shot, you can see the structure of the flower which produces seeds prolifically.  

Most of my plants produce entirely red flowers but one bush makes these two-tone blooms with yellow at the base and red on the outside.  

A macro shot of the two-tone flower reveals how the colours are produced.

Flowers that are left unpicked continue to open.  In the final stage of maturity, the previously neatly folded stamen pop out creating tunnels that bees love to bury themselves in.  Flowers picked at this stage won't last as long in a vase but if they're picked before the unfolding process begins, you get to watch it happen.

Their colour and structure are really eye-catching in an arrangement!

Look out for them during the late summer and autumn months!