What's In the Basket

What's In the Basket

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A bit different to the usual "what's in the basket" post - I had a bit of fun foraging in the bush this weekend.  Our property has a significant portion of bush which hasn't been touched since the 1960s.  There are some fabulous local plants growing in the understory and one in particular that I love to pick in season.  It's commonly called Bushman's Bootlace but has the proper name of Pimelea Nivea.  It has gorgeous little glossy deep green leaves with white 'suede' on the underside.  The stems are long and slender and the leaves are neatly arranged all along the stems.  In spring and summer, little clusters of white flowers emerge on the tips of the stems.  Great as a foliage plant and also in flower, I have used this often since I first found it growing wild on the edge of a steep wooded hill.  I went up in search of some on the weekend and come home with an entire basket of foliage ranging from the small leaves of the Bushman's Bootlace to extra large blue grey eucalyptus foliage - leaves bigger than my hand!  I found some lovely banksia foliage, she oak, ozothamnus just coming to the end of its flowering time, and some fresh Blanket Bush foliage.  Such fun!

Simple fresh foliage can be so beautiful in a vase.  I'm planning on having some fun with it in the near future!

Whats In the Basket?

Whats In the Basket?

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I haven't done a "what's in the basket" post for a while now, but that doesn't mean I've stopped snapping basket shots!  It has more to do with a lack of blogging time than anything.  There is so much happening around the farm and on days when the weather prevents too much outdoor activity, I have been doing some "spring" cleaning and redecorating inside.  I have a current theory that winter is a better time for spring cleaning than spring is!

Last week was a very cold, wet week in southern Tasmania.  Winter has definitely set in here!  But I managed to do a fair bit of picking and pruning in amongst the blustering wind, hail and even snow!  The photo is blurry because is was taken in the rain, but the colours are still cheery and vibrant and the flowers are looking lovely in the cold weather.  It seems the colder it gets, the happier they look.  They Protea Pink Ice certainly prefer the cold to the heat.  They don't look as happy or fresh in the summer. 

So in the basket we have Grampians Thryptomene (tiny white flowers on long branches and the bottom of the photo).  You can read more about them here.  They will continue throughout winter and into early spring with more of the tiny buds opening until they cover the branches like snow.  I love picking them because they smell fabulous!  There are the usual Pink Ice, and there is a Protea Neriifolia as well, just coming into bloom at the moment.  The larger red Leuco's you can see are Safari Sunset that are starting to get their spring colouring already.  We have plots of them planted in different areas around the farm and some flower before the others.  The ones higher on the hill catch more sun at this time of year and flower earlier.  The fine red foliage at the top of the photo is Leucadendron Tall Red.  It will flower in August and it really makes you stop and look when it does, but at this time of the year it is useful as a tall foliage that adds colour and structure to a mixed bunch.   

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.