Celebrate the Seasons

Pinterest interest.

2012-02-02T20:49:00.005+11:00

A few months ago, I was introduced by a fellow florist to Pinterest.

It took a little while to get used to the idea of 'stealing' other people's finds - I know how thrilled it is when you finally find exactly what you are looking for on the net. But then I worked out that if 'people' - read 'me' - didn't want to have their treasures taken, they didn't have to put them up there for all the world to see, and steal.

Now, I think it is just fantastic, and a great tool for my work.

For those who might not know how it works, the principle is the same as cutting out pictures and sorting them into folders or pinning them onto a corkboard. You know - ideas for the garden if only you had one, clothes you'd like to make if only you could sew, houses you'd like to live in if only you lived in (insert favourite city). So, once you have joined up, you can search for all these things and many more, and just 'pin' them onto your board/s. Others can search for them too, and then pin them on to their boards. And they do. Very quickly !

I recently need to show a bride to be some ideas for floral decorations for church pews. I was able to find several examples from other weddings, and when she came in, I could quickly and easily show them to her.

Today I discovered the beautiful work of a Belgian-born florist living in the USA, whose name is Francoise Weeks. Her style of work is one that I am constantly trying to develop myself, and her attention to beautiful detail is outstanding.

I do make sure that I always acknowledge and give the provenance of the photo wherever possible, and hope that others do the same to my photos. These are all from her website (see below).

If you haven't looked at it before, go to Pinterest immediately.
My user name is calyflo.
Find out more about this lovely lady here.

Note to self: learn how to better position the photos, and find out where the cedilla is on the keyboard !

Two lovely emails !

2011-12-05T20:34:00.007+11:00

Last week I received two lovely emails from two lovely customers. Neither of them were solicited, and both of them made me very proud.

The first was from a bride, "Ms M", who got married at the Abbotsford Convent on an extremely horribly wet day. The ceremony was supposed to be held in the garden in the rotunda, but just as I was leaving to go there, car all loaded with peonies, lilies and roses, and garlands and tulle, I received a phone call saying that the ceremony was now going to take place at the Convent still, but on a site I'd never seen. In fact, I had 30 minutes to do whatever I could before the guests started arriving, then Ms M's wedding would take place, then we had 30 minutes to take the decorations down again before the next re-located wedding was to take place in the same space.

Somewhere in between all that, we had to deliver the table decorations to the reception venue, which, fortunately was a mere stone's throw up the road.

(You might be able to tell that I am re-living the stress of the day just writing about it ! The personal flowers were fluffy white peonies which I had nurtured for days).

We managed, but it was very stressful. I haven't yet mentioned the fact that when we arrived, the Saturday Farmer's Market was just finishing up, so there was no parking, lots of wet people scurrying, a zillion children, and us, trying to find the spot for a wedding !

So, you can perhaps understand why, two days later, I was so happy to receive Ms M's delightful email and equally delightful photos, especially as I thought she'd be honeymooning on an exotic desert island:

Hi Denise I just wanted to send you a very BIG THANK YOU for our wedding flowers! We absolutely loved the bouquets, so many people commented on them! And thank you so much for adjusting your plans for flowers at the rotunda to the courtyard! It looked very beautiful! Also loved our centerpieces!! Lets just say everything was perfect! Attached are a couple of pictures from the day! :) I will highly recommend you to family and friends!

Thanks again, M

The second one was from a young lady in Hobart, Tasmania, who wanted to surprise her little sister with a wrist corsage for her formal.

I was a little worried about how it would travel in an Express Post Overnight Box, but as I was gently packing it, I felt reasonably confident that it would arrive safely. Whether or not it would arrive in time was another matter. I wanted to leave posting it as late as possible, as the Singapore orchids in the corsage would be fully wired. Her email tells the story...

The timing was perfect and it was beautiful. My sister loved it and was proud to be the only girl with one!!! I have attached some pictures of her wearing it. Gee she was beautiful!!!

Now, doesn't that make your heart sing !

Buttons and More

2011-11-08T17:06:00.007+11:00

Over the past few weeks, I have been participating in an on-line course in button-making !

Why ? You may well ask.

I came across the wonderfully inspiring blog site of Karen Ruane, acclaimed textile artist, where she mentioned that she was about to launch a course called 'Buttons and More'.

On her blog site, I read about embroidery and what a fundamental, very historical and creative activity embroidery is. From the earliest times, once a fabric had been woven, it was decorated. I have always enjoyed sewing and dressmaking, and, having learned about 3 stitches when I was at primary school (first item was a hot water bottle cover with a sleeping cap embroidered on it), I decided to brush up on my stitches.

This was my first button attempt - well, the first one that I have gone public with !

You can see the beautiful buttons and toggles made by the other 30 or so course participants from all over the world on Flickr.

People's Choice Award

2011-10-28T10:09:00.004+11:00

Well, I didn't win the big prize of $500 worth of goods from Apack, but I AM up for the People's Choice Award: I'm one of 8.

If you go to this link, you can vote for whomsoever you choose ! There are some lovely designs there. If you are short of time, just head to D - Calypso, and click on the button next to the name.

Voting closes on November 25 at 5pm .

Big congratulations to the winner, Annette of FlowerFusion in Queensland. You can see her design here.

My First Competition

2011-10-24T15:54:00.009+11:00

Earlier this month, I decided that I would try my hand at competitions. Not quite sure why, as I'm not really a competitive type, but I thought I'd have a go.

I entered one where I had to use one of 3 products from a supplier called Apack, the sponsors of the competition, and selected a heart-shaped 'posy-holder' made out of sisal. Usually, the florist would icorporate a posy of flowers in the centre.

The one in the photo is pink, but I used a red one, because the theme of the competition was celebrating a 40th Wedding Anniversary, or vow renewal, and the traditional stone for 40 years is a ruby.

I decided to make a table arrangement, and to put either a candle or a bottle of champagne in the centre.

I covered the heart shape with flowers that included roses, ranunculas, bottlebrush, sedum, rose hips and buds, Singapore and oncidium orchids, and various little leaves.

It certainly looked very romantic. Imagine the delighted surprise of a woman being led to a table for two in a chic restaurant, to discover this thoughtful gift awaiting her ! Of course, you don't have to wait for a 40th anniversary: red+ heart+ candle + flowers= romance. What about Valentine's Day !

The competition closed on October 14, and will be judged from photos on-line. You can look at the other entries at /www.flowergoss.com/forum/thread/apack-flowergoss-online-cup-competition-2011-upload-photo-to-win-500-apack-voucher#2810

Once the winner has been announced, there will be a "People's Choice" award. I'll keep you posted !

Ombre

2011-09-07T14:43:00.005+10:00

The word ombre means 'shade', and with fabrics the effect is obtained (in this white to navy dress, for example) by dipping the fabric in dye for increasing amounts of time, so that the one piece of fabric has a whole range of colour hue, from pale to dark, or vice versa. You could also use different pieces of cloth, leaving each one in the dye pot for progressively longer periods of time, so that the colour intensifies with each dipping.
Flowers can also be selected and arranged this way, as in the pink table centre from Martha Stewart Weddings.
You would probably obtain the best effect by using many different types of flowers so that the colour range can be more nuanced.

I'll never forget, however, the impression of the way that the same flowers are graded by colour at the flower market at Covent Garden. Here in Melbourne, we don't have the luxury of such a range.

Imbolc: ask for inspiration.

2011-08-03T14:52:00.012+10:00

I can't believe that the last 'celebration' was autumn... and now we're nearly through winter ! Today in Melbourne, you could be forgiven for thinking that it is high summer . It's 22 deg. celsius outside !

This conveniently brings me to my thoughts of the week....

On August 1, here in the southern hemisphere, the celebration of Imbolc took place...Imbolc, the festival of early spring, when the earth begins to stir... when signs of life are apparent to those who care to take notice... when the goddess returns. (Note: when I first planned my flower shop, I wanted to call it 'Persephone', but I thought it would be too hard having to spell it all the time ! I must say 'Calypso' isn't that much easier. See website www.calypsoflowers.com.au for origin).

This is a time to choose what you really want to do this year, to think about this, and to make preparations whilst the pace of life is still winter-slow and you don't have to rush into things.

In the northern hemisphere, where the festival takes place on February 1, the special flower which symbolises the new almost-beginning is the snowdrop. I remember the joy of finding them as a child in England. I'm not sure what the Australian equivalent would be ?

In my garden, with the last few days which have been so mild, my sweet pea seedlings (grown from seed) have shot up 2 inches, my lettuce seedlings are almost ready to nibble, and the mint is re-establishing its dominance in the mint corner. The oranges are still growing - we try one every week to see if they are sweet enough to eat. (This week, they are sweeter than lemons, but still not yet ready).

At work, I am starting to talk to brides about their spring weddings, and I have started to collate ideas for table centres and bouquets, everything from peonies to forest glades !

This was an experiment for a table centre combining a silver birch log with a bowl of flowers. I just used the flowers that I had available, but it would be beautiful with ....well, with just about anything , really!

Back to my spring planning...

Celebrating autumn

2011-05-23T16:51:00.007+10:00

I was recently given a beautiful book which has rapidly become my favourite. It's by Liza Dalby, and is called EAST WIND MELTS THE ICE. Inside cover says: "... a unique record of nature. In this beautiful journal Liza Dalby writes about the passing seasons, gardening (eastern and western), Japanese customs and a life lived between two cultures." (She's American).

She has also written a book on the kimono (I've got the book on order !), and writes dreamily about the colour combinations. For example:

"... for ladies of the Heian court, maples had another aspect as well. Among all the numerous layered color combinations of robes worn throughout the year, the most flamboyant were the momiji (maples) ensembles that came into season at the end of autumn. In these fashions, a six-robe set was layered so that each robe showed a sliver of colour at throat and sleeve.

... A set of colors named 'Green Maples' arrayed layers of acquamarine, deep yellow, pale yellow, gold, pink and maroon.

The most riotous of all was 'Mixed Maples', in which each robe also had a lining of a different color. The top aquamarine robe had a pink lining, then came a pale blue with a pink lining. Next was a dark gold with a pale gold lining, worn over an amber robe with a pale yellow lining. Underneath everything was a pink robe with a pale yellow lining. I would love to have seen this outfit. It would only be rivaled by the maples turning colour now in northern California."(P211)

Yesterday I went to my favourite gardens, CLOUDEHILL in the Dandenong hills. Had I written those words, I could have written: "It would only be rivalled by the hydrangea turning colour now in Melbourne ."

Moving news !

2011-04-06T15:25:00.006+10:00

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front over the past couple of months, but let me assure you that my life has not been at all quiet !

After having been in the same cute little shop for 6 years, and in another just a few doors away for about 6 years before that, I decided that I really, really had to make a change. Last November, I started to advertise for a new tenant to take on my lease, and in February I finally found one. That was the good news. The tricky thing was that I then had to find somewhere to move to ... in ONE month !

I had a Plan B and a Plan C, but I still wanted a Plan A. The day after the deal with the new tenants was negotiated, I remembered that I had long had the idea of setting up a shared studio workspace - ideally with a couple of other florists and/or designers. I'd tried to do it, a few years ago, but then the GFC happened, and everyone (including me) got a bit scared. Anyhow...

In less than 24 hours I found, on the first website I looked at, someone who was looking for a creative someone to share a converted factory with a company of architects and an IT person. I went to look at the space after work, and got very excited ! My Plan A !

So, here I am, all moved in and more or less set up, with more time to spend on designing floral arrangements, and on working with my customers.

This has confirmed the fact that I should always have confidence in my ideas, and follow them through, no matter how risky they may at first seem .

I don't remember where I found the photos, but I think it was through the Velvet & Linen blog.

6 things you should think about....

2011-01-22T12:03:00.003+11:00

I often receive phone calls from women who have just become engaged, and are wondering how soon they should consult with a florist. Whereas I am always happy to talk about flowers, I can be most helpful if you already have this information:

1. The style and colour of your dress.
2. The number of attendants and the style and colour of their dresses.
3. The other members of the party (parents etc.) who will wear or carry flowers.
4. The location and time of the wedding and the reception .
5. Your vision and/or concept for the wedding event (will it be casual, formal or themed ?)
6. The floral styles that you like. If you are unsure, we have many magazines to help you choose, and there are thousands of websites that you can look at - of course, I hope that you start with mine: www.calypsoflowers.com.au !

Here is a flowers checklist to consider:

Bride, bridesmaids, flowergirls
Groom, groomsmen, best man, page boys
Mothers of the bride and groom
Fathers of the bride and groom
Specials members of the family (brothers & sisters etc)
Grandparents
Guests
Throwaway bouquet
Flowers for the ceremony and the reception
'Thank you' bouquets
Petal confetti.

Please send me an email - or a comment - if I can help you further.

Rainy Day Wedding

2010-11-14T18:27:00.007+11:00

Torrential rain had been forecast for the day of Rebecca's wedding. And torrential it was !

It was about a 45 minute drive into the country, to Yering Station winery, and on the freeway we were barely able to see the car in front of us. Poor things ! At least they had the option of having the ceremony totally undercover in a renovated barn.

The team were still setting the tables for the reception when we had finished our part, and so I don't have a photo of the finished tables, but I'm told they looked fantastic, with her hand- embroidered lavender bags, place names tied to linen serviettes with a sprig of lavender and raffia, and little vases of dried lavender too.

I do have photos of the rain (!), of the finished candles, and of her L..O..V..E.. mugs, filled with 'country bunches' in the theme colours of lavender and white, which were to grace the bar.

I'm told that once everyone had arrived and was inside, everyone had a great time. Can't wait to see her photos !

Rebecca's Candles

2010-11-08T20:39:00.008+11:00

Earlier this year, I was approached by Rebecca to do the flowers for her wedding. I had done her sister's flowers a couple of years ago, and I was thrilled to be asked again. Rebecca's theme was lavender, and the wedding was to be held at a winery, so she wanted to incorporate those country elements in the design. Can you believe that she was hand embroidering 22 lavender bags - using no less than 3 shades of purple - to give to the female guests? It didn't take much to work out that she had a very keen eye for detail !!

I made a sample candle decoration. The candle was 20cm high, and had a woven structure around it, like a very small tray, upon which we could place the elements that she wanted: lavender, lichen-covered twigs, freesias (which would feature in her posy), grapes, and anything else that might take our fancy.

The sample one had Singapore orchids, grapes and lavender.

To make it I heated on the stove, short pieces of wire which I then embedded into the candle. Note: use pliers, the wire gets a bit hot. You need to have an odd number - there were 17 'spokes' in mine.

Then I wound long pieces of raffia under and over the spokes to the required radius of the base. I had found some purpley-grey cake stands onto which I was going to place the finished article, and they were about 20cm in diameter. I roughly joined the raffia pieces with a knot and left the ends loose, so that later I could tie the flowers and twigs to the base. I also didn't want it to look too sleek.

When it was wide enough, I tied the various bits and pieces on to the base, and then trimmed the ends. I finished the ends of the wire by slipping on a lavender bead, and then bending over the end of the wire to avoid any unfortunate finger piercings and subsequent tetanus shots at the reception.

The major change from Mark I candle was to use a taller cake stand, and make the raffia base at the bottom of the candle, rather than a couple of centimetres from the bottom.

I was really pleased with the result, and thought that it would make a great Christmas decoration, especially with some sparkly ribbon, or red raffia wound through. If you use the raffia base that is a bit higher, i.e Mark I, you could place the candle in a shallow bowl, and then poke real flowers through the base, so that they can drink water from the bowl.

Good idea ? I have to say that the original idea came from Master floral designer, Gregor Lersch, in his book "Floral Craftmanship", and I thank him for it.

A hint of mint and lemon.

2010-11-08T16:32:00.005+11:00

Mint, lemon verbena, white roses and freesias guaranteed that Lesley's posy would look and smell fresh throughout her wedding day.

I started off with a small problem in that the roses which came in were huge, which is great... unless you want a soft unstructured look, which I did.

I found some open spray roses, and these, together with the wild 'tails' of the freesias and the bright green tips of the mint and verbena, gave the posy a less structured look.

To finish off the posy, I framed it with white sweet peas. Very sweet !

Let me tell you that nothing makes a floral designer happier than a bride saying "Oh ! That's exactly what I wanted!"

Thank you, Lesley, for allowing me to be part of your wedding !

To see more of our weddding flowers, go to www.calypsoflowers.com.au

Urban Waste...not !

2010-09-15T21:48:00.018+10:00

There's nothing that can stop me in my tracks as quickly as a kerbside collection of green 'waste', waiting to be picked up by the local council ! I can spot a sawn-up silver birch, bundled-up bamboo or trussed-up twigs a mile off, and if I can lift them and/or squeeze them into the back of the mighty little Peugot, in they go ! Nature's bounty !

Recently in my neighbourhood, I found a tangle of branches from an unidentifiable tree, each of which branch, on its own, was worthy of rescue, being of a fantastic wind-blown shape. They were all rather large though, and would have needed to be displayed in a warehouse-sized room.

I have broken these branches down into smaller pieces and used them in several ways, and I've still got heaps left !

One became a sort of nest above branches of silver birch (from another street collection), which had been screwed upright on to a wooden plank for stability. Originally these branches had candles on them, and were used to decorate a table at Christmas. This time, I affixed water tubes to them and put stunning violet Vanda orchid blooms in each one.

I was also able to make little hand-tied bundles of twiglets, which I could then jam in to a favourite rectangular ceramic vase, and use to support these beautiful deep-sea-blue anemones. This tricky technique also works really well to support tulips in a wide-mouthed vase.

Then, finally, I tied little twiglets on to 2 metal candle holders which have been waiting for years to be used in an interesting way.

Just another example of what is one person's trash, is another's treasure.

Iris - The Messenger

2010-07-19T15:30:00.006+10:00

A customer ordered a bunch of blue iris last week, and when I asked if he would like them gift-wrapped, he told me that he would be putting them first in to a vase, and that then they would be wrapped and taken home by the receiver.

When he came to pick the flowers up, he told me of a social worker with whom he had once worked whose work involved reuniting families. She made a point of always having flowers in the room when important information was being given, because she wanted to create a memorable setting for a very memorable event, and she hoped that people would always make the connection between the event and the flowers (my type of thinking, that !)

The customer said that he was going to be giving a woman special information about her mother.

I didn't ask at the time why he had chosen the IRIS for this occasion, and it was only later that I realised that in the Language of Flowers, Iris was the messenger of the Gods, sent to earth to bring good news to mortals. She was the goddess of the rainbow, because of the number of colours that the blooms could have.

He must have known that ... couldn't just be co-incidence.
Could it ?

More pictures from Tasmania...

2010-06-27T19:04:00.005+10:00

Don't know why I couldn't add these...

Peppermint, persimmons & pizza

2010-06-27T18:28:00.003+10:00

We spent the Queen's Birthday long weekend with friends in Hobart, Tasmania. Our hostess is a fantastic cook who used to run , with her then husband, a Middle Eastern restaurant.

Outside her dining room window was a truly wonderful persimmon tree. We sampled one of the fruit, but it was not yet ripe. I love looking at them, and frequently use branches of them in autumn flower arrangements, but I'm afraid I find the taste most unappealing - it's like taking a mouthful of cat fur. I'm told it's the tannin in the fruit.

On the Sunday, we drove to the beautiful Peppermint Bay, about 45 mins south of Hobart, for lunch. It was a truly beautiful day - warm enough for short sleeves if you were sitting in the sun, and freezing if you weren't ! Much to the chagrin of the waitstaff, we moved table 3 times in a (futile) effort to chase the sun, which seemed to be moving faster than us.

With eight mouths to be fed on Sunday night, our hostess made a huge amount of pizza dough, and we each, in turn, put on our own topping. This was a great idea, as new, hot pizzas came out of the oven every 20 minutes or so, and everyone was involved with the preparation of the meal.

This time we mangaged to get to the airport in time to make the plane home. A lovely long weekend !

Transport of delight !

2010-06-02T13:18:00.005+10:00

With the crisp, autumn mornings come these identifiable flying objects. Somewhere, deep down in a pile of old National Geographic magazines, I have a photo of a whole barrage of them flying over Paris: from memory they were all old original designs.

I've never actually been in a hot air balloon, but I will one day soon ... maybe next time I'm in Paris !

Autumn ... liquid amber

2010-04-18T20:45:00.005+10:00

Autumn is very, very nearly here. Some of the liquidamber trees near the shop are just starting to turn red, and the nights are definitely longer, and cooler.

Yesterday, I made bouquets for a bride who had 6 bridesmaids, all of whom were wearing creamy-yellow long gowns. The bride had seen the orange posy which features on the Calypso Flowers website, but wanted to incorporate more of the yellowy orange tones. The posies feature 4 different coloured roses, together with red freesias (with a yellow throat), and beautiful hypericum berries. I can't wait to see some photos from the wedding itself !

The bride carried creamy white roses, with white freesias, green privet berries, and 'Jade' floating Singapore orchids. It was sooo pretty !

First, choose your shoes !

2010-03-22T16:49:00.000+11:00

When we first discussed this bride's flowers, she told me that the brides- maids would all be wearing black dresses, but that they would wear shoes of various colours ... red, yellow, lilac and blue... and that she would like the posies to be very colourful.

I think I fulfilled the brief !

We didn't have lilac roses, because they diluted the other colours, or blue, because I don't think that you can get them, apart from dyeing them, which I just wouldn't do - it's just not natural! We did have red, fuschia, oranges and yellows, which looked great, and the ribbon on the stems of the hand-tied posies matched their shoes, so there were no arguments !

(The bride wore fuschia shoes).

February - Wedding Season

2010-02-24T21:30:00.000+11:00

I've quite forgotten that I had 2 holidays in the last 12 months, it's always so busy once the year starts... Valentine's Day is upon one before one knows it, and the general stress level for that is pretty high. February, being peak summer, is also very popular for weddings, in fact I am providing flowers for weddings every weekend from January 31 until February 27.

February is also peak heat season - very stressful for florists - and last week was no exception: it was 38degrees and blowing a gale. It was very tricky thing to decoratively tie 15 metres of tulle to the Amora Hotel's riverside gazebo where the wedding was to take place, and I was quite concerned that the flowers on the posts would be air-dried before the ceremony even began. But they survived, as did I.

The flowers were roses with 'floating' Singapore orchids in a beautiful amethyst colour. I really like this style of posy, because you can introduce as much colour as you want and /or need to . For this wedding, the bride and her 3 bridesmaids all had the same style - the bride's was bigger than the others.

I also made a pretty wrist corsage for the mother of the bride.

(Next holiday is March 8 !)

Bad Blog Day !

2010-01-24T19:16:00.001+11:00

I don't know if I'm overstretching myself in the multi-tasking department, trying to cook a gourmet meal whilst uploading photos, but I just couldn't get the CAKE post to work (see below). I apologise. Hopefully I'll be able to get the missing photos on this one, and although I'm a bit of a Francophile, I can hardly justify the enormous accent !!

Let them eat cake !

2010-01-24T18:27:00.000+11:00

I've had a bit of fun - a lot of fun, really - making the decorations to go on the top of cakes. We did a BIG wedding cake late last year, where the brief was to have lots of flowers, and to have them cascading down the sides. The cake was in front of a mirror, so the back was on view too.

Last week I did another one for a chocolate mud cake, also for a wedding. The theme colours for the event were red and chocolate brown. Her bouquet (which we also made) was a posy of red roses, and for the cake, I thought some semi-ripe blackberries would be a perfect colour link, as well as providing some textural contrast.

Yesterday was Lauren's engagement party, and she was going to have 60 chocolate cupcakes on a 3 tier glass cake stand. She wanted very bright flowers to put onthe top tier. Très gai, non !

A Second Summer Holiday

2010-01-20T19:29:00.000+11:00

This year we decided to rent a larger-than-we need house on Phillip Island for a week, and to invite friends to come and stay for as long or as short a time as they wished . The house had 2 decks, the one at the back of the house was great in the mornings, and the front deck had a fantastic view over Westernport Bay.

On Friday night we had 7 people staying and had a great barbecued meal together. Contrary to what one might think, entry was not on the condition of wearing a Hawaiian shirt !

We had great weather...not too hot...not too cold...and did holdayish things like jigsaws, and swimming, and having a glass of wine with lunch, and I even got to go out for two minutes in the canoe, but the water was a bit choppy.

Apparently, with Global Economic Crisis, and especially in Europe, many people have been forced to stay at home for their holidays, causing the term 'staycation' to come into being. I invented the term 'fakation' for a holiday at home, because it's not really a holiday, it's more just like 'not working' - equally valid, but not nearly as good as vacating one's usual environment.

So after not one, but two holidays this year, I'm truly hooked !

Indoor trees

2009-12-23T21:30:00.000+11:00

Kate (the visual merchandising student) and I decorated a Christmas tree for the foyer of an apartment block, where I do the flowers every week. The theme colours were red and copper, and we had baubles and birds, with beautiful beaded pears, also in red and gold. Many of the residents have grandchildren who would visit them over the holiday period, and this was the first time that they had asked for a tree. We did have a bit of extra help (she said, tactfully) from 3 little girls who live in an apartment there, as well as their Mum ... and the caretaker...I don't know how we all fitted in !

I have several photos from magazines with indoor trees, I love this one with a candle attached to a silver birch tree, it was in a house near Uzes in the south (?) of France. I have to confess that I'm very partial to silver birches, and use the flexible twigs as often as I can in arrangements.

The other photo is in the apartment of Singaporean architect Colin Seah. He chose the branches for their sculptural qualities.

Advent Wreath

2009-11-27T21:45:00.000+11:00

Today I was asked to make an Advent Wreath. I have done some research on wreaths, and am inspired by the tradition and symbolism. The circular form denotes the circle of life, or, in Scandinavia, the 'wheel of the earth'. A German Master florist taught me that when you are working with a circle, you should always work in a clockwise direction, the natural flowing movement of life, and it's bad luck to do otherwise !

The Advent wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying continuous life, and even the evergreens each have a special and traditional significance, this generally being strength, immortality and victory. The 4 candles represent the four weeks of Advent, and they are progressively lit during this pre-Christmas season.

I love the simplicity of the form, the traditional meaning, the fragrance of the leaves ( cypress, rosemary, bay, larch, yew, pine), and they're fun to make !

I also read that, according to legend, wreaths were also used to identify homes. Not all houses had house numbers, so the specific items used on the wreath helped identify the homes and the families living within. What would you have on your door ?

Indian Wedding

2009-11-20T20:36:00.001+11:00

I'm getting very excited at the prospect of an Indian wedding for which I am doing the flowers. There will be 2 ceremonies, a Hindu one and a civil one, and at this stage I am more involved with the civil one, as the Hindu one involves traditional arrangements. I would, however, love to learn about making the hair decorations, and the garlands that are exchanged as part of the ceremony.

What is exciting me is the prospect of using colour !!. I'm rather hoping that the groom will be wearing something like the man in the photo is wearing (but I'm not getting my hopes up too much about that !). The bride's mum saw a beautifully coloured carnation in my shop, and she said that she would look out for a sari in that colour to be the wedding dress. It was a deep rose-pink, but with a tinge of tangerine around the edges.

The bride-to-be has chosen table centres like the one in the photo, with different coloured Singapore orchids. It should look fabulous. It's not until next year, so I've plenty of time to research.
(photo of gorgeous man is from Asiana International Wedding magazine)

First and last days

2009-10-21T17:26:00.000+11:00

This is our first day with the swans that shared our breakfast, and the last morning at Lutzelberg, before we started the return journey.

Field of Flowers

2009-10-21T16:44:00.000+11:00

It was a perfect summer's day ! We rode to Xouaxange about 20 minutes away from the canal, and found this Elvira Madiganesque files of wild flowers - Queen Anne's Lace, cornflowers, erigynon... heaven couldn't be better !

A great part of the pleasure was being totally unaware of any Dangerous Critters that might lurk in the long grass. I would never have done this at home in Australia - far too many snakes.

I was really intrigued by the strange (read: very un-French) names of some of the towns in this area: Gonrexange, Xouaxange etc. Haven't been able to find out their provenance as yet.

Holiday Snaps: The Canal Boat

2009-10-14T16:47:00.000+11:00

We're just putting the photos from our holiday into an album, and enjoying the memories...

In France, we hired a DIY boat on the Marne to Rhine Canal for 4 days. We (the two of us) started our voyage at Lavarde, in the Lorraine, went east to Lutzelburg, then returned.

We could cook, sleep and shower on board, and we could moor anywhere that took our fancy. We also hired bikes so that we could ride inland to forage for food. The bikes proved to be vital, because it was August, and most of the shops in the little villages were closed for the summer holidays. We discovered this on our first morning, when we walked 2km to find a 'boulangerie'. It was closed ! Went back to the boat to pick up the bikes and ride 2 km in the other direction to the next village. This boulangerie was also closed !

Fortunately, we spotted a travelling food sales van and virtually threw ourselves under the wheels to stop her driving off. We had worked up quite an appetite at this stage, and bought up big ! We took our croissants, 'dejeunette' and cheese to a lake that we had passed en route and sat in the glorious sunshine, counting our lucky stars, and the lucky swans who insisted on sharing our breakfast. And that was the first morning !

The Apple Orchard

2009-10-07T08:21:00.000+11:00

I pass this house on my way to work in the mornings. I've always been intrigued by the little mounds in the 'lawn', and by the fact that they have planted a veritable apple orchard, and not much else, in the front garden in a very residential area.

This week, it looks absolutely gorgeous because all the trees are in full blossom, and there were some bright tangerine coloured flags - I think they're called 'Balinese flags' - flapping in the wind.

Completing the scene is a small flock of wooden ducks. Such an eclectic mix ! I wonder who lives there ?

Kate's Window

2009-10-04T14:47:00.000+11:00

Last week, I was approached by a woman studying Visual Merchandising, who asked if she could design and install a window display, which would then form part of her assessment, in the shop. I was wildly excited at this prospect, as it is hard to find inspiration - or rather, hard to find the time to MAKE the inspirations - week after week.

She came up with 4 designs, but we both preferred the one that had been inspired by a huge basket that I have.

She covered 4 polystyrene balls with silvery soft Cineraria "Dusty Miller ' leaves (would have taken her all day !), climbed death-defyingly up ladder to hang them, and then together we filled the basket with yellow iris, concealing the container within with moss and with olive branches which I had trimmed from my tree last weekend.

Looks pretty good ! I was most pleased that it was in keeping with the Calypso Flowers style, yet it was something that I would never have had the time to do. Thanks, Kate !!

Weekend at Daylesford

2009-06-09T21:56:00.000+10:00

Journal entry - June 6
We arrived at the house in Daylesford in time to have a cup of tea before heading off to Hepburn Spa, for a spa and massage. I chose a ginger, lime and geranium blend, hoping it would help my sore throat. I lay in the bath listening to the soothing sound of rain on the tin roof.

Ann had made a tart from the 5 Crown apples growing on the tree outside the bedroom window, and Yves had made an entree from the mushrooms growing in the front garden. I made a mental note to start work on a vegetable garden during the coming weeks, so that it would be ready for a spring planting. The table was decorated with candelabra wound round with some ornamental grape vine, with just a few crimson-coloured leaves tightly holding on.

I just loved those fragile little nerines growing on the side of the garden path. I must get some for the shop when I return.

How wonderful to be able to enjoy the fruits of nature so simply, and in so many ways.

Celebrate the seasons !

2007-05-21T22:19:00.001+10:00

We're well into autumn now. The shop is filled with flowers the colour of terracotta, blood-orange and rich red burgundy. My favourites are big, chunky, brick red LA lilies, which combine beautifully with orange parrot tulips.

On Saturday, we created the flowers for Laura's wedding. I covered two big pots with dried lotus leaves, then filled them with big, fragrant Casablanca lilies, lime-green Bells of Ireleland and white, white freesias.