Posts tagged flower arranging

For Diana

March 9, 2012 · Filed under florist, flower arranging · Tagged , , , , ,

I thought, while I took the time to edit the 500,000,000,000 (at least) photos that I took on the cruise, I would show you this.

Diana from Elephants Eye has been a long time reader of my blog. I guess I have blown her away with the brilliance of my flower designing, because she is always commenting how she never gets to see it any more. I did think that I would be arranging flowers in the flat all the time, but for some reason, the gardeners at the complex where I live frown on my ‘helping’ myself to their stuff. I can’t understand why? I am just trying to make life easier for them.

But I did have a chance recently to visit a cut flower farm, here in Barbados.

This is not me!

So many flowers to choose from

And I purchased a couple of things…

Then I made these two arrangements.

This is a 3 sided, and it is on a chest in my foyer. It consists of 3 torch ginger, some song of India and 2 Strelitzia leaves.

 I also used the bottom half of the ginger when I shortened them. If you look closely, you can see 2 stems in the vase, they are a red bamboo looking stem.

In this shorter vase, I also used song of india, and a green that I have not seen before

 It looks like a giant Italian parsley, but the leaves are hard, not soft like parsley. And I added these peachy anthiriums.

I hate to tell you (but I will), that I purchased these flowers the week before I left on the cruise, and in the excitement I forgot to throw them out. Most of the anthiriums were still in good shape when I arrived back, so I just went for fresh water and a quick rearrange. I certainly got my moneys worth out of that lot…

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Garden Visits: Glendale

March 6, 2012 · Filed under Barbados, garden visits · Tagged , ,

Yes, I am back, hope you didn’t miss me too much, lol.  I know that you are waiting anxiously to hear all about my cruise, and I will fulfill your every desire, but first I have to let you know what I did before I left.

Lucky me, I got to visit one more garden for the Barbados Horticulture Society before the Open Garden program was finished for the season. For the season! Where has the time gone? Yikes, a side effect of getting old(er).

This was the garden of Mrs Audrey Thomas. Her garden overlooks the Rockley Golf Course and is a rainbow of colours.

  There are water features, a wall garden, a terraced flower garden and a Fernery.

The Wall

 is a mix of a succulents and flowering plants in an astonishing array of pots and baskets.

I could not imagine how many hours it would take to water all those pots, and I am sure that it is every day, the sun here can be so hot and pots dry out so fast. 

 This is such a great idea for an ‘older’ gardener,  able to garden at shoulder height, certainly is back saving and you can constantly add and move plants. These were my favourite, I love succulents,

And this one, I know I should know the name of this plant, but I am having a memory lapse, anyone else know it?

According to the Barbados Horticulture Society

 the Terrace Garden was referred to by Peter Seabrook as a “Chocolate Box Garden” when he filmed it for “Victory Garden” on PBS in Boston. 

The blaze of colour is created with annuals and shrubs.

Mrs Thomas is one of the main growers of the huge variety of beautiful and unusual foliage that has been packed and shipped for the Barbados exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show in London for the past 23 years.  As I have said before,  Barbados is a constant winner at Chelsea, and have a record to be very proud of.

Look at the beautiful bougainvillea at the front of her house.

 Not only is are the leaves variegated, but some of the flowers are two-tone as well.

 And it is gorgeous against the blue of the pergola, really shows it off.

The Fernery

 is filled with a large number of shade loving plants.

 Look at these wall, I know I have seen those building materials before, just not sure what they are. 

 The plants are sheltered from the sun with a shade cloth roof.

Although there are two water features in the Fernery,

 I found this one fascinating.

 I had noticed a large number of metal pots around the garden, and I wondered where Mrs. Thomas had found them. Talking to one of the volunteers at the garden, I found out where they came from. At first I wasn’t sure if I should share the info. I wanted to design something at KG and astonish you with my brilliance. But, it might be many years before we are able to come across, and I couldn’t leave you hanging like that.  They are discs from a plow.

Genius, I am sure my father has an old one around somewhere…

 

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Love is in the Air

February 14, 2012 · Filed under Random Thoughts · Tagged , , , , ,

Everywhere I look around,

I am no longer a florist, but I am missing the creativity. So I decided to paint a small picture for Ian as his Valentines Day card.

Hope he likes it…

If you want to see what I was up to on past Valentines Days, you can here and here.

lyrics by Tom Jones

 

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BHS Garden Show

January 31, 2012 · Filed under Barbados · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yes, I am finally home from The Bahamas, and I had been going to share some of my experiences there, but the Barbados Horticultural Society Garden Show was on this weekend, and as I was away on Saturday, I thought that I had better visit on Sunday, the last day.  My friend David was in from St. Lucia, so Ian was happy, (he was spared the experience), and we drove to the show early in the morning. And a good thing it was too, the heavens opened up in the afternoon and it would not have been a pleasant experience.

David taking a photo of the Bismarck Palm, Bismarckia nobilis, my favourite palm, (and his too)!

These two beautiful Clerodendrons were right at the entrance, one a shrub, and the other, the “Bleeding Heart’ vine.

Cleradendron quadriloculare

Clerodendron thomsoniae

This is not a ‘garden’ show like Chelsea or Canada Blooms, no display gardens to visit, but they had some lovely plant, veg and flower displays in the buildings.

 And certainly lots of plant vendors outside, you could find almost anything you wanted. Although I am greedy, I restrained myself, the terrace is not that large, and I am sure Ian appreciates being able to walk around it, so I just purchased a few herbs.

I loved how a lot of the cut flowers in the competition were displayed against a black background, it certainly set them off for photos.

Such great colours in the hibiscus.

I remember when the red seemed to be the only colour you could purchase, now look at them,

 the plant hybridizers have certainly been busy.

And look at the display by the Barbados Orchid Society

 it makes me want to go out and buy a ton of orchids, of course Ian would kill them while I am in Canada, that would be a problem, and not to be able to bring them back,  would break my heart.

Epc. Rene Marques

Such amazing varieties.

I am sure that Barry would appreciate this table more than I do, maybe next year he can be here for the show.

I have always had a thing for caladiums, they certainly did very well on my terrace in Toronto

Caladium 'White Wing'

 And look at some of these lovely varieties, maybe when I return home, I shall purchase some of these.

This plant blew me away,

Strelitzia Nicholai

 I love the combo of dark and light, had a black and white garden, dogs, and bedroom when I lived in Kingston. I can envision all kinds of floral designs I could come up with around this flower, Strelitzia Nicholai.

Another plant I have always wanted to try growing are bonsai

Ficus phillipiensis

 however, driving back and forth every weekend between Toronto and Kilbourne Grove, made them very impractical for that lifestyle. But when I am retired….

But, in my mind, I have saved the best for last, the floral design. Although there were a lot of beautiful arrangements, I loved the all green. When I was designing, you arranged your greenery first.

There are so many beautiful ones,the arrangement could be wonderful on its own,  sometimes I didn’t even want to add flowers.

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Garden Visits: Garden House

January 10, 2012 · Filed under Barbados, garden visits · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The ‘Season’ has started in Barbados, and that is good for me and for our house guests. Until the end of April, there is lots and lots to see and do in Barbados. Between horse racing, polo, concerts, plays, National Trust open houses, etc., etc., Ian and I shall be very busy. Even better, the Barbados Horticultural Society has started their ‘Open Garden’ for the next two months. These are small private gardens that the owners are graciously opening for a small fee allowing the BHS to raise money.

For the first open garden it was the home of Mrs. Jean Robinson, in Constant, St. George.  She is the past president of the BHS and the Co-ordinator of the Barbados exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show from 1988, when the Society first began exhibiting, until her retirement last year. And we all know how Barbados cleans up at Chelsea,  15 Golds, 8 Silver-Gilt, and 1 Silver, quite the record. I got a chance to see a replica of their 2011 Gold winning exhibit when it was displayed at Limegrove Mall this summer.

The garden at Garden House, is over 2 acres of lawns divided by shrub borders. You enter via the poinsettia walk,

and through an opening in the wall.

A path takes you through the first garden room.

In the shrub borders that surround this first garden room there is a lovely combination of Dracaena marginata, Ixora and variegated Mahoe.

The variegated Mahoe up close and personal. We have this plant in my complex as well, and I love it.

The borders surround a beautiful 18th century Bajan house,

 and the vivid colours of the shrubs and trees, whether in flower or not, lend a sparkle to the garden

Mussaenda

 

Bromeliad planter

 

Loved the Euphorbia lactea ‘White Ghost’, so striking against the dark  ivy backdrop. 

On one side of the house a lovely lily pool,

and a closeup of the dark tradescantia planted at the base.

Walking back towards the house, you pass this tree, wish I had been there when the orchids were in flower

.

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that a lot of the material that is used at Chelsea came from this garden, there is so much beautiful foliage that would be perfect in a floral arrangement,

Variegated Heliconia

 

Red Leafed Banana

 

Variegated Banana

This is  a yellow leafed form of Crinium, love  it.

In the back 40, were a number of fruit trees and this huge bamboo.

a very handy plant for any floral designer, and you can cut your own canes for staking as well.

Although there is no formal design (and you know how I like that), I was amazed by the colour throughout the garden, and the huge number of plants that I had no idea what they were. (And some I recognized as house plants in Canada).

And how to end a perfect afternoon, but a lovely tea in the shade, how civilized...

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