We are truly fortunate in this country to have such a range of unique flora with which to design. During one of the 2020/2021 lockdowns I was thrilled to be able to gather a colourful range to “play” with – all of these are from the house paddock at the farm. They have been planted over the 35 years my parents have lived there permanently (previously it was a break from their other farm where they had cattle).
The base is a slice of banksia that came down in a storm and some gum tree bark has been naturally curled (as it peels off the tree) to fill some of the gaps. I have used a palm spathe as the container for this design.
I wanted to make this a design that appeared to be bursting from the base. Bursting with colour, with plant material and still have a natural flow and form.
The forms of the plant material vary greatly so placement in groupings is the best way to showcase this.
For those of you unfamiliar with the plant material, this design contains
Bottlebrush – Callistemon Captain Cook (red flowers)
Bottlebrush – Callistemon Moonlight (white flowers)
Bottlebrush – Callistemon Candy Floss (pink flowers)
Grevillea Parakeet – (pink and red flowers)
Kangaroo paw – Anigozanthus Bush Elegance (elongated pink flowers)
Tea tree – Leptospermum scoparium Ballerina (small round pink flowers
Coastal rosemary – Westringia Blue Gem (no flowers showing, comes in purple and white)
Woolly bush (of course!) – Adenanthos Silver Streak
