Lovely Leuco's

Lovely Leuco's

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Leaucadendrons are one of the most popular flowers in the florist trade.  They are incredibly long lasting, they are available all year round, and come in a range of colours.  They look equally happy amongst natives, or more traditional flowers.  And yet, many people, although they would recognise them, wouldn't have heard of them.  We grow lots of varieties of Leucadendrons at the Swallows Nest.  

At the moment, most of the Leuco's (as we call them) are rich red.  We have three main varieties of red Leucos, all with slightly different properties.  This one, called Safari Sunset is the most popular Leucadendron grown worldwide.  It is a rich deep red, has long strait stems up to 1 mt, and is sturdy.  It has a medium sized flower head.  

If you weren't familiar with Leucadendrons before, I'm sure you'll recognise them if you look for them, peeping out from a bouquet at a florist or sold in lovely large bunches at flower markets.  

Wedding Flowers Centerpieces - 6 Hints and Ideas For Every Season

Wedding Flowers Centerpieces - 6 Hints and Ideas For Every Season

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There are many options to choose from for centerpieces, however wedding flowers centerpieces are probably the most popular. There are many great flower choices regardless of the season of your wedding.

To get you started, listed below are 6 hints to consider when thinking about flower centerpieces.

Set a budget for your wedding flowers centerpieces. Flowers can be very expensive, so have an idea of how much you will be able to spend. This is one area a good Florist or wedding planner can help. Tell her or him what you are looking for and what your budget is, and they will be able to give you ideas to work with.

Choose flowers that are in season to help keep you within your budget. Having off season flowers imported will definitely cost more and possibly be a hassle. Where you live might also determine what flowers are available at different times of the year.

If you are having a destination wedding, choose flowers that are native to that location. Take advantage of what is available locally. Most larger resorts have wedding planners or Florists onsite to help with the selection and set up of your centerpieces.

Look for unique containers or vases to make your centerpieces unique. This can help to take a boring centerpiece and make it memorable. For example, instead of plain old clear glass vases, choose vases that are a different color or have designs in them.

If your budget is really tight, consider silk flowers. Good ones look very real, and your guests might not even know the difference. Check craft stores for do it yourself supplies. There are also professional designers that specialize in silk flowers.

Match your flowers with your wedding theme. This can be a color combination, a season like Fall or just about anything. Your theme can run through all of your table decorations including flower colors and containers.

To help with the selection and coordination of your wedding flowers centerpieces, you should consider working with a Florist. It is definitely possible to do them yourself, however Florists have access to the freshest varieties of flowers and they can give you valuable ideas.

As mentioned previously choosing flowers in season can help to keep you in budget, and they are also easier to find in season. Listed below are the most popular wedding flowers for each season.

Spring

There are many flowers to choose from for Spring including cherry blossom, daffodil, dogwood, hyacinth, sweet pea and tulips. Match up the vibrant colors of the season with your flowers to create eye-catching centerpieces.

Summer

Hot Summer options include dahlia, daisy, gladiolus, snapdragon, violet and zinnia. This is the perfect season for a daisy theme wedding or a combination of the colorful flowers of this season.

Fall

Popular choices for Fall include sunflowers, chrysanthemum, and hydrangea. Try sticking to deep reds, gold and other colors of the season.

Accent your flowers with leaves, pumpkins or apples to finish off your wedding flowers centerpieces.

Winter

Amaryllis, evergreen, poinsettia and roses are great choices for Winter. Evergreens can be decorated if you are having a holiday wedding, and you can never go wrong with roses especially around Valentine's Day.

Wedding Flowers by the Month

Wedding Flowers by the Month

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If you are the type of person who wants to include layers of meaning and symbolism in your wedding flowers instead of just picking whatever looks good, then consider choosing your wedding flowers by month. Just as each month is associated with a gem stone, each month has its own type of flower as well. You could use the flowers for the month of your ceremony, the bride and/or groom’s birth month, or the month in which you met or got engaged. Do you need extra cash for your own ideas? You can apply cash loans for the best solution. Read more information at pacificadvance.com, that will help you to get more cash on your pocket.

January

January's flower is the carnation. Carnations are traditional flowers that come in all sorts of colors: pink, white, red, yellow, orange, and green. They can be a single solid color, tinted with two colors, or edged with a "frosted" look. Carnations are inexpensive flowers that are easily available year-round.$3C/div>

February

February's flower is the violet. Traditionally, violets are purple, but other varieties of violets can be pink or white. The violet blossom has a distinctively feminine shape that makes it immediately recognizable from other types of wedding flowers.

March

March's flower is the daffodil. The sunny yellow color of daffodils and the prominent trumpet-shaped bloom make this flower a springtime favorite. They are in bloom from the late fall to the spring months.

April

April's flower is the daisy. Daisies are a very versatile flower, with a yellow center and petals ranging from the traditional white to a very striking magenta color. Daisies are inexpensive and available year-round.

May

May's flower is the lily of the valley. Lilies of the valley make great "filler" for wedding bouquets because of their delicate bell-shaped blooms on a slender stem. Traditionally they come in white, but pink varieties are also bred as well.

June

June's flower is the rose. Roses are a mainstay for weddings, mainly because of their reputation as the most romantic flower. They are avahlable all year round, have a lovely fragrance, and come in almost any color imaginable from white to purple. Each color of rose has a well-known meaning, such as red for love, yellow for friendship, and white for innocence.

July

July's flower is the water lily. Water lilies are known for their tessellating pattern of triangular petals. The blossoms are usually white, but they can also be red, lavender, pink, or purple. Water lilies look stunning as part of a wedding bouquet or floating in a glass bowl of water as a table centerpiece.

August

August's flower is the gladiolus. They aren't often seen in wedding bouquets, making them a unique and unconventional choice. Their thin, silky blossoms on a thick stem are generally fringed or ruffled. They can be white, pink, orange yellow, purple, or a combination of two colors. They are very fragrant flowers and are sometimes known for allergic reactions - so choose with caution!

September

September's flower is the aster. Asters look quite similar to daisies (but with a stronger, more defined petal structure) and are usually used in wedding bouquets in combination with other types of flowers. They are grown in season from summer through the fall, and have a fragrant bloom. They can be white, pink, orange, yellow, red, or purple.

October

October's flower is the cosmos, which comes from a Latin word meaning "beautiful." The dainty flowers are available from summer to fall, are very fragrant, and preserve well when dried.

November

November's flower is the chrysanthemum, or just "mum" for short. They are grown year-round and are close relatives of the daisy. The big blooms with dozens of individual oval-shaped petals look rich and luxurious, especially when part of a large bridal bouquet or wedding floral arrangement.

December

December's flowers are narcissus. Narcissus look similar to daffodils and are in bloom from fall to spring. Sometimes they are called "jonquils." Alternately, holly flowers can also be used in wedding bouquets to symbolize December. Their pointy red blooms are very distinctive and affordable during the Christmas season.

This symbolism can help brides make a decision about the type of wedding flowers they want to use in their bridal bouquets, brides maid bouquet, wedding table decorations, and the overall wedding décor. When selecting a type of wedding flower, just make sure to check out all the available hues of a flower - the same blossom can look drastically different in one color versus another.

Find a good professional wedding florist to help you along the way in selecting flower, or find a friend or family member that knows flowers and share this article with them for ideas, if you are a DIY Wedding type.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day

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Mother's Day is a great time for flowers.  Usually, we sell our flowers wholesale in large quantities, but being an artist, I love the creative challenge of making retail bunches.  I'm not trained in floristry so they are not technically well constructed, but I love combining colour and texture and making the flowers look their best.  My local General Store sells bunches for me, and I love the challenge of creating bunches that say "buy me" to shoppers.  This week, I made some Mother's Day bunches.  Here are a few snaps!

 From the field to the bucket, and from the bucket to the bunch!

 Happy Mother's Day

kekeliruan durjana.

kekeliruan durjana.

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Aku tak suka post yang emo oleh itu aku namakan post ini, post bukan emotional. Sebelum mencurah ke ladang gandum, aku just nak ingatkan diri sendiri bahawa esok, Sabtu serta Ahad akan berlaku satu ujian yang sangat-sangat membunuh jiwa dan raga. Dahlah Isnin konvo, so how? kena pakai topeng ke hari Isnin sebab muka macam apam gula hangus yang hilang serinya?

Apa yang merungsingkan aku sekarang? aku rasa sekarang LLB ini disekadar dipinggiran, bukan lagi masalah utama. Walaupun acapkali diserang virus meroyan dek kerja yang melambak, tapi masih stabil tanpa sesi air mata, atau sesi mengorilla kan diri. Sihat dan masih sihat. Masalah aku adalah tentang identiti aku, sangat-sangat merungsingkan, umur pun semakin tua, bukan semakin muda, hidup berkerjaya akan berlaku dalam lapan belas saat lagi, tapi aku masih tidak tahu siapa aku?

Siapakah aku, siapakah aku. Kenapa aku rasa macam robot, dan kenapa aku rasa macam ini? Akukah A Galak? adakah aku Alex Pettyfer?

Ada sesiapa yang jumpa identiti aku tak? sila pulangkan. Terima kasih ek?

P/S: Kalau aku rapat dengan sesiapa, tak semestinya aku menjaja jiwa dan raga, habis tu korang rapat dengan abang mat tu, korang merangsang ke? OK bye.

Sugar Bush

Sugar Bush

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It is generally thought that winter isn't a great time for flowers, but proteas are the exception to this.  There are many protea species that flower in autumn and winter, when other flowers are hard to find.  They grow through spring and summer, sending up long stems, and then in autumn they set buds and begin to flower.  Three years ago, we planted some new proteas called Protea Repens or Sugar Bush.  They have flowered for the first time this season, beginning in autumn, and continuing now into early winter.  I am delighted with them.   They are quite different to our standard Pink Ice protea.  They are waxy rather than hairy (!) and don't have the silvery bloom that many common proteas have.  When we have a new flower, I love to put a few on my kitchen windowsill and watch them open over days and weeks - I guess as a kind of road test!  Here are some of our new beauty.

We have spectacular sunsets at Swallow Nest Farm.  I think that the autumn sunsets are the best.  Its something about the autumn light here in Tasmania - and probably helped by a bit of smoke from Forestry burn offs.  This was the sunset that provided the soft lighting in the protea photo above it.

As the Sugar Bush flower opens, its colour starts to soften, and the centre structure starts to collapse into a wider, less tidy shape. I think its quite beautiful.