Flower Show Time

Flower Show Time

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Spring is Flower Show time in Tasmania and our District School hosts our local flower show.   I  have always felt that, as a local flower grower, I really should be involved in a local flower show! But because of various reasons beyond my control, I have never actually been to see our local show until this year.  I was also able to be involved, by donating a few bunches for fund raising.  

I had fun doing a quick pick, mostly of the vibrantly coloured spring flowering Leucos.  I probably should have taken the trailer, because my poor old faithful picking basket got so over-full that I nearly broke it!

Simple bunches of Leucadendrons in cheap and cheerful plastic wrap were snapped up.  I also did simple bunches of Protea Neriifolia, which are looking particularly fabulous at the moment.  They all sold out before I got to the show.  

I had a lovely time looking at the Daffodil exhibits, with some amazing variations that I've never seen before. 

 There were also some stunning floral arrangements.  Having checked out the competition, so to speak, I'm considering entering an arrangement in next years flower show!  I'm sure you'll hear all about it when it do!

Sindrom Akut Pakli

Sindrom Akut Pakli

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As a proud citizen of Shah Alam, one must understand Konsep Sindrom Akut Pakli. For those who do not understand, you should probably stab yourself in the chest with very sharp object, yang mampu membunuh.

Being me, a total cheapskate, Pak Li was the only option then for a very dark luscious concoction which they called it Ipoh White Coffee. No other intention, but their coffee and crispy kaya toast was the only reason I was there, from the beginning. Soon after, it became the hot spot for people, where if you are lucky you get to see pretty people (i.e by definition: tall, skinny, skanky whore, muscular, handsome, tall and dark with huge boobs/cock) sipping glasses and glasses of blended drinks ala Starbucks while skanky chatting about things like :

1. Perempuan skanky from university/school with fake titties.
2. Lelaki handsome (i.e usually imaginary in order to impress others) trying to mengorat.
3. Luxury items like Birkin Bag from Hermes (to be pronounced : hermES  like herpes) and Chanel bag while scrolling and random pointing at pages from Net-a-porter
4. Any topic that makes you uber classy.

Since these people are usually extremely pretty and handsome, I couldn't care much about their very bimbo conversation. As long I get my drinks and toast I'm fine. 

Haruslah sebagai manusia, bila dapat information tentang tempat hot, haruslah dikongsi bersama. Oleh itu, ia menjadi satu konsep atau sindrom yang sangat sistematic, dan mengharukan.  Lebih sesuai dikenalkan melalui gambarajah.

Sindrom Akut Pakli

So what do you get today, fully occupied tables, consist of 4-5 men ranges from 19 to 60 years old (selalunya bermuka ala selipar) who anxiously await and praying very hard for the next group of people who walk into the shop  to be a group of very sexy, alluring young women, which these people call, "gadis-gadis cantek with an "e" not i". Selalunya berakhir dengan kekecewaan kerana, yang hadir hanyalah segerombolan sosej.

A normal conversation between these men would be, plans to impress a particular group of gadis-gadis, usually would be a long 2 hours conversation, while gazing softly at the table of the victims. Usually the muka paling selipar would start the conversation with statement like,

"Serious doh, minggu lepas aku lepak sini dengan kawan-kawan aku, lepas tu ada satu group gadis-gadis cantek masuk, dia usha aku tajam shial. Aku macam jual mahal lah. Malas nak layan"

Rasa macam nak barge into the conversation, and say,

"Jual mahal ke, diorang tak minat pada selipar seperti anda?"

 

We've Struck Gold

We've Struck Gold

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Please excuse the cheesy title of this post, but this beautiful spring flowering leucadendron is called Safari Goldstrike.  I wrote about it earlier in the year.  It was our first new planting after we took over the protea farm 4 years ago, and it has been a great success.  This year is the first big harvest, with the plants beginning to produce lots of saleable stems.  If you want to see the before and after shots, click on the link.

For most of the year, Safari Goldstrike are a green leaucadendron with a slightly pink tip, as seen in the photo above.  Many florists use them at this stage.  They are long lasting and a great accent flower, the green really glowing among soft pastels, or natives. 

You can see them being used above in this native arrangement.  Depending upon the weather conditions, sometime in August these unassuming leuco's decide its their time to shine, and they begin to change colour and open into the large golden blooms that give them their name.  

They really glow with colour and their large, teacup shaped flowers just shout "look at me".  

We are so proud of these great flowers - our first planting.  They are versatile all year round, but are definitely a spectacular spring-flowering leucadendron.

Truly Tasmanian - The Pineapple Candle Heath

Truly Tasmanian - The Pineapple Candle Heath

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Meet the Pineapple Candle Heath, or Richea Dracaphylla,  a truly Tasmanian flower.  When I first discovered this plant, I thought it looked like it should be a tropical bloom - some type of rainforest rarity that could be feasted on by colorful tropical birds.  But its home is the temperate rainforest slopes of Mount Wellington and other high altitude rainforests - moist and cold, the soil wet with snow-melt and a dense canopy of trees over head.  It is endemic or native to Tasmania.  These flowers have been harvested in the wild, but at Swallows Nest we have some wonderful well established plants that are able to be pruned and trained to produce lovely long stems.  

Pruning these plants is no mean feat!  They are as spiky as they look and very dense.  Gloves are required!  But the effort is worth it when the lovely long stems produce beautiful tall flower spikes.  Flowering time is usually the spring months but we often get flowers here much earlier - July and August.  Flowers can also surprise us at other times of the year, but August is usually when they are really starting to bloom in earnest.   

The spiky leaves, about 20cm long, spiral up the stem and the flower emerges from the crown of the spiral.  These flowers are sometimes called Riceflower, because of the obvious likeness.   The rice-looking part is actually the petals of the flower that are fused together.  They fall off when the stamen in mature.  These petals are grouped together and sheathed by bracts that often carry a pink or red tinge.  

In this picture, you can just see the flower starting to emerge from the spiral of leaves on the stem.  

In this picture, you can see how the bracts surround the petals.  There are some petals peeping out on the left.  The bract will open and eventually fall off.

Richea Dracophylla, or Pineapple Candle Heath are a very architectural flower - a strong bold shape.  But they can also be softened by adding them to other natives.  They are a beautiful and unusual flower - uniquely Tasmanian.  

Tall Red

Tall Red

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August is the month that heralds the beginning of spring colour among the Leucadendrons here at Swallows Nest Farm.  This lovely leuco is called Tall Red - an uninspired name for such a wonderful plant, I always think.  It is a selected type of Leucadendron Eucalyptifolium, which is characterised by its profuse, pointy leaves and vigorous growth habit.  It is wonderful as a foliage plant throughout the year, with a lovely red colour and long stems making it very useful.  Sometime in August, depending upon the weather conditions, it starts to sparkle and make itself much more noticeable.  The foliage changes from a rusty red to a pinky, bright red with yellow parts in the areas that get less sun.  Gorgeous lime green cones emerge.  Branches are covered in these flowers making them a beautiful textural cut flower.

In the picture above, you can see the colour variation caused by the level of sun the leaves are getting. The bracts around these cones are creamy with a pink tinge.  The more sun they receive the deeper the red colouring.  Sometimes, the colour will change along a single stem.  There are so many flower cones on each stem that the variation adds to the charm of this plant.

The cones act as pollen presenters and over a period of weeks become yellow as they "present" their pollen.  They look lovely at this stage, like little yellow pom-poms.

This picture shows the lime green of the cones as the stems of Tall Red wait to be put in bunches in the packing shed.  

Tall Red looks fabulous in mixed bunches at this time of the year - imagine how it would be missed in this bunch.  Even though it has lovely long stems, it can also be cut down and the flowers used in box arrangements or posies.  Its multi-flowered stems add texture and colour with a long vase life.  A truly Lovely Leuco!

Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the Air

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Spring is just around the corner, and many of the plants are beginning to wake up after their winter rest.  There is a riot of colour among the many types of leucadendrons.  Over the next few weeks, I will be featuring some amazing spring flowering proteaceae but here is a sneak peek!

All of these lovely leucadendrons are late-winter or early-spring bloomers.  They create a mass of colour and texture at this time of year.  I think you'll agree that the effect is wonderfully cheery!