Fashioning Protea Ornaments

When it's time to decorate for the holidays this year, you may be devoted to your favorite store-bought decorations that have been tucked away in your garage all year long. While they’re a nice way to jolly up your home, we think designing and fashioning your own ornaments can be a more creative way to decorate. Whether you're already in the ‘elf mode’ or want to hold off on making anything until you've picked out your tree, there's never a wrong time to start thinking about creating some unique, homemade ornaments.

That brings us to our favorite holiday décor. Yep... you’ve guessed it once again, proteas! Did you know proteas are ever-flowers? With proper post-harvest care, blooms can last weeks in a vase. Then, they don’t die… they dry beautifully! Many Proteas retain their structural design and to some extent their color. When used in crafts, like ornaments, they are as permanent as almost anything the botanical world provides. The best part? Our favorite ornaments can be enjoy during the holidays and long after the season ends. So, if you're tired of those old store-bought decorations, we suggest you take a peek at these sweet angels.

When protea blooms find their ultimate place in a dried decor, they finish a story that began in Gondwanaland and triumphed over a thousand adversities. They represent a special kind of bond, a link to the past and a reminder of the present and how new life springs eternal.

Protea Pinita

Protea Pinita... here to spice up your the holiday season! This gorgeous protea hybrid is a blend of magnifica or queen + longifolia. Think LARGE bloom with a slightly waxy appearance and bracts that are flushed and tipped in a bright ‘chili-pepper pink’ then shading to light cream at the base. The central peaked dome is heavily tipped with black, providing a robust and appealing contrast.

Pinita looks fabulous mixed with other protea or combined with an array other colorful flowers and foliage. SO FESTIVE. A touch of royalty but also fluffy and soft... the perfect holiday bloom. Tip? Pinita looks stunning in any arrangement, bouquet or wreath!

November Articles of Interest

The one sure way to kill these beautiful,

hardy plants is with too much water and fertilizer

Some of the most glamorous plants for Southern California gardens come from a region whose soil is so poor in nutrients that fires are essential in providing fertilizer in the form of ashes for the existing flora. I am speaking about South Africa’s Cape floristic region. This area is more packed with endemic species than any other place on earth.

“Endemic” describes plants that are native to a specific place. Our own Channel Islands, for example, are famous for the seventy endemic species that grow there, and California has more endemic species than any other state. Yet the number of endemic species in the Cape floristic region — an area the size of Colorado — approximates the number of endemic species in all of North America.

Read more here.
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The florist behind Melourne’s Urban Blooms project

What better way to celebrate a reawakening than with flowers. Capturing the spirit of Melbourne after months of lockdown is the huge floral display that Cherrie Miriklis-Pavlou of Flowers Vasette installed over the grand archway at the entrance of the iconic Flinders Street Station last Saturday.

The Flinders Street installation falls under the Urban Blooms project that is part of the $100 million Melbourne City Recovery Fund delivered by the City of Melbourne and the Victorian State.

Read more here.
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Dried flowers are an Instagram obsession.
Here’s how to preserve, arrange and photograph them.

At first glance, Euclid Farm’s storefront might catch your eye as just another stylish Queen Street boutique, but look a little closer and you may be surprised at what you see. The shop window is filled with a display of dried flowers - and containers of dried blooms and grasses wrapped in bouquets of brown craft paper are the first thing you see when you step into the shop located directly across from Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Read more here.
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Handcrafting Beautiful Bloom Arrangements

I have always loved the sight of a fresh, unique bouquet inside my home. Not only do flowers incite mood-enhancing qualities, but they also add just the right pop of color to a room. And while I enjoy my weekly routine of picking up premade bunches from a store, I thought it would be fun to learn how to create an arrangement using dried/preserved flowers, which are gaining popularity in home decor and at events. They’re also low maintenance since they don’t require changing of water and can be swapped throughout the seasons.

Read more here.

Harvest Time: The Cornucopia

When it comes to Thanksgiving, we can’t think of a more iconic symbol of the holiday… called the Horn of Plenty because it comes from the Latin word cornus which means horn and copia which means plenty. They’re often brimming with a bounty of fruits and grains, but our favorites are, you guessed it, mostly proteas.

Thanksgiving has always been epic to harvest time, and it's always taken place in the autumn… so, naturally this holiday would include the cornucopia, which represents all of those things. Beyond that assumption though, at what time the cornucopia made its way into our country's consciousness as a Thanksgiving symbol is difficult to say. But with its meaning of abundance, prosperity and good fortune, the horn of plenty now embodies Americans’ thoughts of thankfulness. Whether referred to as a cornucopia or horn of plenty… the meaning of this ancient symbol still resonates today.

So, gather up your favorite fruit, flowers + foliage and create something beautiful!

Fall into Jewel Tones

With the Holiday Season only weeks away, now is the time to fall into Jewel Tones and create a little extra drama by adding these rich colors to your arrangements and bouquets! Autumn proteas bring an exotic and unique touch to any design, especially when combined with warm, saturated colors like topaz, emerald and sapphire, and unexpected textures like brunia, roses, ranunculus, everlastings and cones + pods. When paired with fabulous foliage like leucadendron, agonis, grevillea + eucalyptus, another level of allure and sophistication is added to the design...and, that's especially welcome during this magically time of the year. Here are some of our favorite designs bursting with deep hues and rustic stems.