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.

Cape Floral Kingdom

The Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest of all floral kingdoms and is the only one to fall completely inside the borders of a single country.

It occupies about 90,000 square kilometers - that's only 0.04% of the total surface area of the Earth - yet it contains 9000 species of flowering plants - that's about 3% of the Earth's species.

Furthermore, two out of three of the Cape Floral Kingdom species are endemic, that means they occur nowhere else on earth. The highest level of endemism in the world.

What is a Floral Kingdom?

Floral Kingdoms are the largest natural units that can be determined for flowering plants. Regions that share the same combination of plant families form part of the same Floral Kingdom.

There are six Floral Kingdoms in the world: Australian, Antarctic, Cape, Holarctic, Neotropical and Palaeotropical.

The Cape Floral Kingdom is a World Heritage Site.