Dahlia ‘Café au Lait Royal’ – one of two new sports of Dahlia ‘Café au Lait’
If the dahlia world had royalty, Dahlia ‘Café au Lait’ would be right at the top. It’s probably the most magnificent, best loved and most widely photographed flower on the planet. As it doesn’t (have royalty), it has been deemed necessary to invent some. Continue reading
Variegated geranium leaves, yellow pompons, wool swizzles and twigs make up one of my favourite designs I’ve seen at a flower show. Yes, it’s tiny and the florist hasn’t spent a fortune on flowers, but it wows me with its colours, poise and confidence.
The judges’ card noted some fault or other – from memory, it lacked flowers or content. I could quote a poem that is equally brief and perfect, but I’ll forbear. The brief might have been ‘Pack ‘Em In’, for all I know, in which case, this would have been highly commended:
Ivory, pink and hints of green lift a white floral centrepiece that would be perfect for a traditional summer wedding. Orchids, rosebuds, peony buds, chrysanthemums and lisianthus feature, with tiny sprigs of gypsophila and hebe, at a guess. I think the clusters of flowers and tiny green buds are Kalanchoe ‘Calandiva White’. Silver-grey mohair yarn trails delicately over. I enjoy the expertise shown here: the ability to create such an even height and the tapestry effect that prevents open ‘black holes’ that can appear when floral designs are photographed. Continue reading
This beautifully crafted King of the Jungle (or more accurately, of the RHS Hampton Court Floristry Marquee) was part of Capel Manor College’s offering for 2016.
He was placed quite high on the stand so I had to tiptoe to capture him. I loved the ruffled textures of his mane and the tawny colour palette. He’s made from those small kniphofias that are so fashionable these days, with a backdrop of ferny foliage, and details picked out in moss, bark, grasses and seeds. Continue reading
When peonies are in season at a reasonable price, I can’t imagine myself choosing any other cut flower. Continue reading
This week’s photo challenge is ephemeral: a wonderful word for short-lived, fleeting. Things we might easily overlook, although our lives are made richer by noticing them.
Buttonholes are ephemeral – small posies of flowers and foliage, their stems out of water. We know they’ll stay fresh for only a day or so, but we wear them as a small token of celebration to mark special occasions.
Buttonholes of tiny, blue forget-me-nots, pink columbines and cow parsley were presented by some fellow exhibitors in the Great Pavilion to visitors one year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. I never learned which company had the idea, but I saw several pinned to celebrities during Press Day and was attracted by the delicacy of the design. Continue reading
Imagine buying a bunch of roses. You’ve probably brought to mind a bouquet of classic hybrid tea roses – the ones with long, tapering buds and straight stems that are so widely available. I wonder if, like me, you’ve sometimes felt just a little disappointed when the buds fail to deliver their promise and fade away before they’ve really opened?
Behind the scenes, breeders have been developing a new type of cut rose, inspired by old garden roses. Often mistaken for peonies, these blowsy beauties are so far removed from what’s gone before that they’re almost like a new type of flower. Continue reading
