Native November Wedding in Soft Blush Colours

Mid November I did a wedding with a gorgeous colour scheme.  The bride sent me a little colour board that showed the colour and feel she planned for the day.  The suits were blue (a current personal favourite!), as were the bridesmaids, and the flower girls were in shades of blush.  

My Protea White Ice were just beginning to flower well for the first season and they gave me the inspiration for the flower combination that would suit the theme.

White Ice are a white protea with a soft blush colour in the central flower mass.

Other spring flowers that I teamed up with them were Protea Compacta in a rich pink with a central mass of bronzy red.

The  Scarlet Ribbon Pincushions were early and are a lovely soft colour when they just begin to flower.  They added to the colour combination.

The brides bouquet also had a white waratah - Shady Lady White.  My plants are still very young and flowering sporadically to it was great to have a couple to sprinkle through.  Other flowers that I added were the soft golden Dryandra Formosa.  I just love these for weddings!  You can also see some Berzelia. Another secondary flower that I think worked really well in this wedding was the Leucadendron Discolour which was in its creamy white phase, with a dusting of pink blush. 

An experimental planting of Serruria Blushing Bride provided a few blooms to add to the mix.  I used one here for the grooms boutonniere.  Some fluffy white flowering gum makes an appearance too.  Dryandra are great for boutonnieres, and just imagine these on a blue suit - great colour combination!

The foliage that I used throughout was a Tasmanian eucalyptus called Cordata.  It has lovely blue green juvenile leaves with a rounded shape.  

I really enjoyed the colour combinations in this wedding! 

Winter around the Farm

The road up to the farm on a misty day

 Winter is beautiful season in Tasmania.  Each season has its own characteristics, its own activities and its own beauty.  Misty wintery days can be magical.  And the dark days make you really appreciate the blue-sky days when they come.  The Wedgetailed eagles that live in the tree tops on the slopes behind our farm seem to be more common companions in winter.  Maybe they need to work harder for their winter meals.

Wedgetailed Eagle

I am often asked if winter is a quiet time around the farm … I guess in a temperate climate the main growing times are the warmer months.  But with natives, there is always something flowering.  Always!
And it's not just the harvesting that we're busy with in winter.  There are plenty of other activities going on.

This year, we've been clearing and there are lots of piles of rubbish needing to be burned.  A clear winters day with a slight breeze is a brilliant time for a burn off. 

We are working our way through piles large and small, looking forward to having some new fences and more areas for planting soon.

New Protea Varieties

Planting is another common winter activity for us.  We have planted something new every year since we have been here at Swallows Nest Farm.  This year is our 7th planting season.  Proteas and plants from the protea family prefer to be planted out in winter, providing they can be given a little shelter from the harsher winds and frosts.  Having planted in both summer and winter, I am convinced that winter planting gives the plants a better start in life.  Our summer plantings required much more irrigation and have taken much longer to establish.  

Brunia Stokoeii

This year we have 2 new varieties of proteas, and 3 new varieties of Leucadendron going in.  We also have a new variety of Brunia and more Berzelia being planted.  

Brunia Stokoeii

The new variety of Brunia is Stokoeii.  I had planted some a few years ago but we lost them all (except  2) during the summer of 2012-13 when we had bush fires.  I was so excited about having this gorgeous pink flowering variety of Brunia and really disappointed to have lost them.  So we're giving them another go.  We bag each plant as we go, to protect from Rabbits, wind and harsh frost.  It seems to work well for us here, until the plants are bigger and can fend for themselves.

The newly cleared areas have really opened up our possibilities for planting.  It's a challenge figuring out straight rows with all the hills though!

Leucadendrons Jubilee Crown and Safari Goldstrike

And of course, there are the winter flowering plants that make winter a colourful and satisfying harvest season too.  The Safari Goldstrike that we planted in our first year at Swallows Nest are now mature and productive.  They have a rich golden green flower head in July and then bright intense yellow in August. 

Phylica Plumosa and Leucadendron Inca Gold

The Phylica Plumosa are almost ready to flower.  They seem to be straining towards the sun at this time of year.  Behind them, the lime green of the Inca Gold Leucadendron is rapidly changing into its colourful winter yellow.

Leucadendron Galpinii

Leucadenron Galpinii is commonly called Purple Haze.  It winter, you can see why.  It is delicate and softly purple with leaves that spiral around the stem.  Our Galpinii plants have taken a long time to establish but we are starting to see some harvestable stems this year which is exciting.

Banksia Brownii

A few years ago I planted a handful of Banksia Brownii which has beautiful feathery leaves that are a joy to use as cut foliage.  But this year, they are flowering too!  A delicate creamy yellow, they aren't the most attention-seeking flowers but they are beautiful in their own way.

Berzelia Lanuguinosa

The Berzelia or Button Bush is getting ready to flower, making lots of little clusters of flowers heads.  I sometimes cut it at this early stage to use in arrangements.

Protea Repens

Protea Repens start flowering in late Autumn here and carry on throughout the winter months. 

Protea Pink Ice

Winter is also a great time for Protea Pink Ice.  We have Pink Ice in good supply almost all year round.

Leucdendron Safari Sunset

Safari Sunset have a long harvest time from autumn, through winter and spring and into the early part of summer.   It's only at the end of summer that they are scarce.  When I think winter, I think Leucadendrons.  They really are the winter stars here.

Leucadendron Red Gem

 The Red Gem have gone through their glowing red phase and are starting to get a yellow tinge.  In a few weeks I'll be harvesting creamy yellow and apricot flowers by the trailer load!

So no, winter is not the quiet season on a protea and native flower farm.  Winter encompasses the full range of activities from clearing, to planting to harvesting.  There's always something to do and something to enjoy.  And then of course, there's spring to look forward to.

Relaxed Native Wedding in Early Summer

K & S Photography

 What a great setting for a relaxed summer wedding - the Coal River Valley is a beautiful part of Tasmania with many fabulous wineries.  Pooley Wines is the setting for this wedding I was privileged to provide flowers for.  

The three bouquets combine pastel summer tones with the textures of native foliage and gum nuts.

In the bouquets you can see Wax Flower, Eucalyptus, Dryandra Formosa, Proteas and a number of different Leucadendrons including Pisa, Safari Goldstrike and Safari Sunset.  There is also some late Berzelia.

K & S Photography

I love the style of this informal, yet well-considered wedding theme.  

Early wax flower, some still in bud, combined with gum nuts, eucalyptus foliage and the soft silvery yellow of the Leucadendron Pisa bracts surrounding silvery cones - simple rustic boutonnieres.

K & S Photography

A beautiful country scene!  And great photography by Kat from K & S Photography.   

K & S Photography

They look so happy!

K & S Photography 

There were so many lovely details included in the celebration.  Floral centrepieces were created in vintage fowlers jars and suited the long table style of seating.  Bunches of flowers were also hung on the doors of the beautiful old stone barn where the wedding was held.  You can see a Leucadendron Silver Tree cone, more gum nuts, Silver Tree foliage, Leucadendrons and Proteas.

Native summer blooms are combined with foliage, gum huts and twisted willow.

The pincushions are Scarlet Ribbons which are early in their season here, and are softly purple and red coloured.  

Little details provide personality to a wedding.  This wedding had loads of personality!  The chair decorations were simple but added soft summery colour to the ceremony seating.  

K & S Photography

Happy New Year 2014

Just a little video that captures the whole year in 30 seconds. 

Happy New Year!

Giving Flowers

In the last two weeks I have picked flowers for so many occasions.  It has caused my mind to wander about the gift of flowers.  I can think of no other gift that is appropriate for congratulations, and commiserations, to celebrate and to encourage.  We use them in weddings and funerals.  They are given to celebrate birth and to sympathise in death.  Flowers say "I love you", "I'm sorry" and "Thankyou".  They say "Welcome Home" and "Goodbye".  I find it quite amazing!

A friend recently passed on a book called "The Language of Flowers"  by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  It was a great read!  It is based on the Victorian idea of expressing thoughts and feelings through the gift of flowers.  The Victorians had a very sophisticated flower language.  I want to do some more exploring in this area now - I've been inspired!  At the back of the book was a paraphrased list of flowers and the meanings assigned to them through this floral language.  Of course, I was keen to look up Protea, and was really surprised by its meaning.

Proteas mean courage.

I rather like their meaning!

Welcome to Winter

Welcome to winter on the farm!  It's a little chilly, and quite wet, but its a beautiful season.  There are many proteas that flower right through the winter.  In fact, I think they are superior in some ways to the blooms produced in the warmer seasons.  They seem to be clearer and brighter, free from insect activity and the effects of strong sun.  They really glow!

Winter is also a great time for planting proteas.  We have planted in all seasons here at Swallows Nest Farm,  and by far the most successful season is winter.  The plants clearly love getting their roots into the soil when its cooler.  It gives them time to focus on their roots before they feel they have to produce leafy growth.  There is more rainfall here in winter too, so there is no need to irrigate.  Real rain always produces better results than irrigation.  Somehow, the plants can tell!

Our very first winter here, 3 1/2 years ago, we planted 50 new plants as an experiment.  We didn't really know what we were doing, but I had read up on all the varieties and then realised that I could only really buy what I could find available!  A local nursery had some of these, so in went 50 Leucadendron Safari Goldstrike.  They were so small!

We put them in the ground and never irrigated them once!  I remember that as I planted the last 3 plants,  it started to rain.  Three years later, they look like this!

This spring will be our first big harvest of these wonderful yellow Leucadendrons.  They have large teacup-like heads in bright yellow, on strong strait stems of amazing length.  Really spectacular.  I will be sure to post photos of them as they start to sparkle!

Summer Blooms

Summer is the time when King Proteas are in bloom. These flowers really are the "kings" of the protea world, opening up to the size of dinner plates! For this reason, Protea Cynaroides (their botanical name) are the national flower of their native South Africa. They truly are stunning. At Swallows Nest Farm, we have been busy planting King Proteas this season in a stunning White. I am so excited about them! Unfortunately, I will have to contain my excitement as they will not be ready for harvesting for 3 years.  I will have to content myself with the few Mini Kings that we have! It will not be a chore - they are equally as beautiful, if alittle smaller. Still a fair size for a flower at the diameter of a bread and butter plate. They are a beautiful colour with soft purple on the centre crown, and cream and pink outer petals.  Then there are the soft creamy green centre stamens.

The whole flower is like a performance as it opens slowly over days and even weeks. I watch captivated as they open, changing shape unfolding themselves. Recently, I had one on my windowsill for a fortnight and took photos as it underwent its slow unfolding performance. These are some of the photos.