party

I love it when I get to create flowers with no particular requests or criteria to stick by. I can just respond intuitively to what is around me at the time. This was inspired by the Autumn foliage glowing in the landscape at the moment.

autumn explosion

Ornamental grape, Sea holly, James Storie Orchid, Sterlingia, Dogwood, Leucadendron and a berry called Callicarpa that I have never seen before.

for me mum

Protea, Kale, Amaranthus, Privet and Dogwood.

Haven't had a good excuse to head down to the wholesaler's and have a play for a little while. Got there late in the day but managed to get some yummy things. Love that spotty Kale.

Happy Mum's day mum

red-tailed black cockatoo

The flecked red/orange and black feather is from the female and the solid red panel of red is from the male bird. When I hear these magestic cockatoo's above I always look up to try and catch a glimpse of that incredible beautiful red flash of the tail feathers lit up from the sun behind. In the South West of WA these huge black birds are at threat from habitat destruction so it always feels like a great privilege when we see them.

When me and my beau lived in Parkerville we used to walk along the bush-lined roads and bridal trail, once he found a feather suspended in the undergrowth and gave it to me.

One of my bestest and most beautiful of friends is getting married soon. We are starting to collect some more of these feathers to use in the celebrations somehow..

clippings from the garden

Scarlet Paperbark, purple basil and Echeveria in a cool enamel pot that I found at a vintage shop.

colours from today

listenings of late: Beirut

Err sorry bout the adds.

australian life

How amazing is this flower? Hakea laurina or pincushion hakea is a West Australian plant and has been a steady favorite for me through all my horticultural years. In each garden I have created over the years it always gets given prime position, but for some reason they don't grow for me even though they are easy plants to establish for everybody else! I will keep on trying because I love it so..

I keep on doing little drawings of botanical life existing around me. This is another fab west aussie plant Calothamnus, the flowers of fine red filaments burst from little bulbous buds that occur low down on the woody branches of the shrub. One of those typical australian plants that on closer inspection just blow you away with its beauty.

summer wedding 09

The table arrangements were pretty wild and fun. Inari requested tuberose for her bouquet and I added fluffy white chrysanthemum and sprigs of Eucalyptus victrix buds. Thank you Ellie Henderson for the great pictures.

celebration

Some flowers I made for my sister yesterday. She's a bit clever - now officially a law chick. Congrats radish!

birdy buttonholes

Last summer I created wedding flowers for two amazing artists Inari and Shaun who share their lives with a very special little orange and green parrot called Diego. The feel for the decorations and flowers was to be lush, wild and colourful, and to include feathers. Each of the buttonholes were to be little individuals as you can see - it was a lot of fun.

I will post more flower photos of the wedding soon. It was the first opportunity I have had to create wedding flowers and there were lots of them! My good friend Carolyn helped to design and make them, and my family (and Carolyns!) were all summoned on the day to help out- cheers all!

All of the above images by Ellie Henderson- thanks!

wahey!!

Ok, so I am waay over excited but just have to tell you I have scored a job with the lovely lovely ladies at Podz florist in the Perth hills! This local florist shop caught my eye straight away when it opened not yet one year ago for its fresh, earthy and original creativity. The space and creations coming from within really stand out from the rest, so the opportunity to learn from these guys is really exciting for me!

Images above are from the Podz florist website

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