Myrtle Beech Foliage - Nothofagus Cunninghamii

Myrtle Beech Foliage - Nothofagus Cunninghamii

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Lyell Highway Lake Burberry

I started the year with a short break to the west coast of Tasmania, my island home.  It was so nice to get away from home for a few days with the whole family.   We ate out every day for lunch and dinner, so no cooking or washing up (no small thing in a family of 7).  It was relaxing and fun and a great way to start the year.  

King River Gorge

It was also fabulous to explore parts of Tasmania that I've never been to before.  Tasmania's west coast is wild and largely uninhabited in the south which is almost entirely national park.  We stayed in Strahan midway up the west coast on the shore of Macquarie Harbour and had a great time exploring the region.  It was also a special experience for me, seeing the native vegetation in pristine temperate rainforest in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. 

Gordon River

Myrtle Beech, or Nothofagus Cunninghamii, is a beautiful tree that grows in Tasmania and in southern Victoria.  I grow it here at Swallows Nest Farm for its glossy green long lasting foliage.  I have seen it growing in the wild on Mount Wellington in Hobart, but in the temperate rainforests of the west coast, it is so abundant!  Around 50% of the trees in the forest are Myrtle Beech.  

Myrtle Beech - Nothofagus Cunninghamii

Myrtle Beech is slow growing and can live up to 500 years.  In the west coast rain forests, where the Myrtle Beech are the dominant species they grow up to 40m tall with nobly wizened trunks and a dense canopy high up the tree.

The west coast area has a high yearly average rainfall - between 3 - 4 metres of rain per year.  I heard it said that there is rain in the rain gauge 330 days of the year.  That's a lot of rain!  We were so lucky to be there for 4 consecutive sunny days!

The trunks of the myrtle beech are covered in mosses and lichen.  The dense canopy of the myrtle foliage creates a perfect environment for them to flourish in the wet, deeply shadowed understory.

Myrtle Beech Foliage

The foliage of the Myrtle Beech is really pretty.  It has small glossy green leaves that grow in a fanlike shape.  As a cut foliage they have a long vase life.  

Myrtle Beech canopy

It was great to see the trees growing in their native habitat.

Hogarth Falls

Hogarth Falls is a short, simple bush walk right in Strahan village.  Our kids really loved this walk.  The myrtle towered above abundant ferns and lined the banks of the creek and the waterfall.

The tree ferns are abundant in the west coast.  They are so beautiful!

The colours of new growth

 Early summer brings new growth on our Myrtle Beech at Swallows Nest Farm.  The colours of the fresh leaves are very pretty - orange, pink and red.  

New foliage in red

The new growth is very obvious on this tree.  Unfortunately, it is no good for picking as it wilts quickly.

Once the new growth turns green though, it can be picked without fear of wilting and it lasts really well.    

 In Tasmania, you'll see fresh bunches of myrtle foliage in the local florists.  It is brilliant for use all year round, except in its new growth phase.  It's nice to know a little about this beautiful foliage and its natural habitat, the temperate rain forests of the West Coast.  

How to Make a Fresh Native Christmas Wreath

How to Make a Fresh Native Christmas Wreath

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Christmas is over for another year, but my Christmas wreath is still looking good!  In the pre-christmas rush, I took a little time to photograph the steps to making a simple, native wreath.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to blog … but better late than never, I thought I'd sneak it in before the New Year!

For this simple fresh wreath, I start with a 12" floral foam wreath.  They are available from floral supplies stores, usually under $10.  I soak the floral foam so that it is completely full of water before I begin.  

I like to begin by selecting all the materials I want to use and have them on the table around my work space.  I love to create combinations of foliage - subtle colours and textures that really give the wreath a special something!  For this wreath, I start with some sprigs of Tasmanian myrtle beech foliage.  It is really fresh at this time of year.  The new seasons growth has changed from red to rich glossy green. 

I cut sprigs the right length, and remove the leaves from the bottom few centimetres of the stem.  I cut the stems on an angle so that they are sharp and firm to press into the floral foam.  I work my way around the wreath until all the sprigs are evenly spaced.  I don't worry too much about neatness at this stage - its good to work quickly to build up the layers. 

Next, I add some fir that I've foraged from the garden.  I like the contrast between it and the myrtle beech.  I also like the structure of the fir and the way it provides a fuller look to the wreath.  It's important to remove the small needles from the stems of the fir sprigs before they are pressed into the foam, otherwise they won't hold firmly. This can be a little fiddly.   I add a small amount of  myrtle to the centre of the wreath at this stage too.  

Next, I add some sprigs of wax flower.  They add another dimension of green but also provide beautiful little highlights with the flowers that peep out.  The wax flower adds a beautiful honey scent too.  

With each layer of green, I try to balance the wreath, filling gaps and creating a nice shape but also thinking about covering the outer and inner edges of the floral foam so that they don't stand out and detract from the finished product.  

Next, I added some Leucadendron Maui Sunset.  They are a light fresh green at this time of year, with pink tips.  In this picture you can see that all the sprigs and flowers are pressed into the foam in the same direction, sweeping around the arc of the wreath.  This is important for the design of the wreath.  If things are added in different directions, the wreath can get really untidy and doesn't come together harmoniously. 

With this wreath, I decided to use just the one main flower to bring the design together.  Leucospermum Scarlet Ribbons is a great christmas flower.  The 12" wreath fits 5 of these flowers really well in s sort of star shape.  Odd numbers are generally more pleasing, visually.  4 flowers would detract from the circle shape of the wreath, making it look too square.  I cut the stems quite short, and remove all the leaves before pressing the first flower firmly into the centre of the band of floral foam. 

The placement of the 5 Leucospermums or Pincushions is quite important because they really stand out as the main feature of the design.  The first flower is placed and then the others are added carefully to create the 5 points of an invisible star. 

Adjust the flowers carefully until they are well spaced and sitting evenly. 

The final stages of the wreath involve adding the special touches and filling the gaps, adjusting until everything sings! This year I really enjoyed adding little sprigs of holly to my wreaths.  I have a holly bush that is slowly getting big enough to pick from.  Wear gloves when picking and preparing it though as it is really prickly!  Again, the springs are cut on a sharp diagonal and the bottom leaves are removed.  I press the holly sprigs into the wreath in relation to the 5 main flowers now, emphasising the design.

Another of my favourite additions to fresh native wreaths are gum nuts.  These are dried ones that I have left over from projects through the year.  They have short stems so are suited to wreaths.  Again, once those 5 main flowers have gone in, everything that is added has to be in harmony with them.   I add the gum nuts in between each flower.  I find that sprinkling them is better than placing them too neatly, because they look more natural.

In the above picture, you can also see a white rice-flower like bloom.  These are a native that grow wild on my farm and flower in summer.  I have a few different varieties, commonly known as Dolly Bush.  I am unsure if they are a Cassinia or an Ozothamnus - I think there is an overlapping there.  But if they are picked at exactly the right time, the lovely bright flower heads don't droop and and really useful to brighten up summer arrangements.  You can see a gap on the wreath where the floral foam is showing. Dolly Bush is one of the things I've used to fill in these gaps.  More little sprigs of foliage are good too.

Another of the final touches is to add Leucadendron Jubilee Crown.  These are often called "Christmas Cones" and look particularly festive.  The cheery red cones are great little highlights that add an extra dimension to the wreath.  Again, I remove all the fine needle-like leaves and cut the stems sharply before sprinkling them throughout the wreath.

Eventually, all the gaps are filled and the highlights are added.  I stand back and make sure the wreath is looking balanced.

These wreaths are lovely addition to a festive table.  Add a nice fat candle to the centre and use them as a table centrepiece.  If you remember to add a little water each day, the wreath will outlast even the typical Christmas leftovers of ham and turkey!  

I hope you all had a happy Christmas season and wish you all the best for a productive and happy New Year, with plenty of time to seek out the beauty in each day.  Thanks so much for all your support and kind comments throughout the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

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Can you believe we are saying goodbye to 2013?  The year seems to have flown by so fast and the Christmas Season has been so busy that I have hardly come up for air!  In Tasmania the long summer days linger and the summer solstice occurs just before Christmas.  It's a lovely time of year.  

The main flower we're harvesting now is the Leucospermum, commonly known as a Pincushion.  Its beautiful summer colours provide inspiration for me when it comes to festive decorations.  I love fresh Christmas wreaths.  They make great table centrepieces, especially with a candle in the middle.  

I love the challenge of combining colours and textures to create these wreaths.  Foliage plays a big part in the overall feel of the wreath and its fun foraging around the farm for beautiful fresh foliage to use.

I love the wreath above using some late Tasmanian Waratah and button bush or Berzelia.  I've also used some Dryandra Formosa, an Australian flower from the protea family that I did a test plant of a few years ago.  The golden flowers are surrounded by lovely foliage that looks like strips of green zig zag.  Dryandra flowers dry well too and last for years in a dried arrangement.

During spring I noticed a wonderful eucalypt in my local area that was laden with gum nuts.  So heavily laden was it that the branches were weighed down to the ground.  I snipped a few branches and dried them, looking forward to when I could use them.  They were a perfect addition to this wreath, I thought!

Orange Leucospermums and yellow Leucadendron Pisa make this wreath really summery and fresh.  The Pisa can be used at various stages.  I picked some quite early to use it in its flowering stage.  Later the central cone enlarges.   It is silvery green and beautifully surround by yellow and lime green bracts.  

Geraldton Wax flowers and Leucadendron Jubilee Crown, also known as Christmas Cones fill out the bright citrusy wreath.  I couldn't resist adding some more gum nuts!

Foraging around the farm lead me to seek out a small holly bush that had been overgrown in the last two years.  After a bit of bush-bashing, accompanied by my trusty sidekick, I found the bush and was delighted to discover that it had grown significantly, even though it had been almost hidden by bushy growth.  Needless to say I've now cleared around it.  The holly was fun to play with in wreaths and Christmas bunches too, although it was a little prickly to deal with. 

I also found, during one of my foraging walks, some impressive cones on a big conifer our family imaginatively calls the Christmas Tree!  When I first started doing the local farmer's market I was excited to use some foliage I found which had pink immature cones on it.  These are the same cones a couple of months later.  I really don't remember this tree producing such impressive cones before! The photo doesn't do them justice - they are shiny and deep purple.  Wonderful for an addition to a Christmas wreath!!

I saved them for my own Christmas wreath.  I added Leucaspermum Scarlet Ribbons, some wild foraged Ozothamnus (white Rice Flower)  Tasmanian Myrtle foliage, Leucadendron Safari Sunset, Christmas Cones, and Goldstrike, and of course, some of the gum nuts.  Knowing it was my own wreath I probably tried to pack too many things onto the one wreath, but I'm glad I made the time to make a wreath for our own table.

It was a beautiful summer day in Tasmania on December 25th.  We had Christmas brunch on the deck in the open air.

It was a memorable day.  As I write this, the wreath is still relatively fresh and sitting on the table beside me.  I love to enjoy the flowers I grow in my own home!

I'm looking forward to 2014 - it promises to be a very exciting year.  In the meantime, we are still working to pick the rest of the summer crops as they bloom.  I'm looking forward to doing some wedding flowers this week, and then maybe getting a short break toward the end of January before the year really begins in earnest.  I hope 2014 is happy one for you - enjoy!!

Farewell until next year.

What's in the Basket

What's in the Basket

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I picked the first Banksia Baxterii for the summer last week.  In the basket was a selection for some birthday bunches.  There are some late Leucaspermum Cordifolium, bright orange and cheery.  There are also some fresh Protea Pink Ice.  Over Christmas is the only time of year that its hard to get these pink beauties - there are about 3 weeks where they are few and far between.  But they are now returning to bloom.  There is some lovely Tasmanian Myrtle foliage there too - Nothofagus Cuninghamii.  You can also see some Brunia Albiflora in the basket - at its peak of production at the moment, and one of my personal favourites.  

The Christmas Rush

The Christmas Rush

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I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have Christmas in winter.  Summer is such a busy season here.  There is so much to do around the farm - the grass seems to grow while you watch it.  The leucaspermums all seems to flower at once, and everyone wants flowers for Christmas.  Add to all this the normal end of year activities and you end up with a great long list of things that need to be done!  But in amongst it all, there are some fun jobs.  I've been designing christmas arrangements and wreaths and I love the creative side of it. 

The potted arrangement above has three types of Leucosermum - Cordifolium (the orange one) Scarlet Ribbons (the red) and Mardi Gras (the yellow and orange).  I've also included some Berzelia or button bush - the creamy white little pom poms, and a selection of leucadendrons.  

This Christmas wreath includes our newest planting of leucaspermums - Scarlet Ribbons.  They've been in the ground just over 2 years and we've had a great crop of them this year.  They are a relatively early flowering variety for us, and they look so cheery on the hillside where they grow.  I love the way they change colour from pink and greyish purple and red when they are just opening, to rich red with orange and tinges of pink as they mature.  

The wreath also has our leucadendron Christmas Cones - the little purplish red cones that you can see peeping out of the foliage.  They are such a great Christmas time plant.  The beautiful swelling cones are so vibrant on the end of the stems, and even look good when they are aged and dry.  They end up looking like miniature pinecones on the end of the stems.  What a useful Christmas plant!!  

I have added some of our Tasmanian Myrtle foliage too, which is looking so spectacular after its growth season in spring.  It's botanical name is Nothofagus Cunninghamii.  It is a beautiful Tasmanian tree that is highly prized for its pinkish toned timber which makes wonderful furniture and wood products.  I love to pick it, because it has a wonderful resinous smell that lingers on your hands. 

You might also be able to see some Geraldton Wax flowers, and some Eucalyptus foliage.  I just love the way the colours and textures of the different plants blend together when I'm creating different bunches and arrangements. 

I think sometimes the busyness of the season can get the creative juices flowing!