July Joys: Australian Native Flowers & a Surprise Summer Encore

If you're looking for unique flowers that bring texture, color, and lasting beauty to floral arrangements, our farm has been bursting with some truly spectacular seasonal blooms. This season, Banksia and Grevillea (affectionately known as Bush Lollies) have been stealing the show. Even more exciting, we're also enjoying an unexpected second flush of waxflower… something we rarely see this late in the season.

Australian native flowers are treasured by florists and flower lovers alike for their sculptural forms, incredible texture, and vibrant colors. They create beautiful focal points while adding depth, movement, and a touch of the unexpected to bouquets and designs.

Banksia is one of the most distinctive flowers we grow. Its striking cone-shaped blooms, in shades of warm orange, golden yellow, and soft green, make an unforgettable statement in everything from wedding flowers and event installations to everyday bouquets. With its bold texture and architectural form, Banksia brings natural drama while pairing beautifully with both native and traditional blooms.

Grevillea offers the perfect contrast. Its intricate, curled flowers bloom in shades of soft pink, vibrant fuchsia, rusty orange and creamy yellow, bringing elegance, movement, and a whimsical touch to every arrangement.

Together, Banksia and Grevillea create loose, organic arrangements that celebrate the beauty of nature. Whether you're styling a summer table, or simply brightening your home with fresh blooms, these Australian natives offer unmatched character, texture, and seasonal beauty.

As if that weren't enough, this season has brought an unexpected bonus.

Our waxflower is still flowering well beyond its usual season. By this time of year, we would normally have packed away the last of our waxflower, but an unusually mild spring has gifted us with a beautiful encore. Discovering fresh stems still blooming in the fields has been one of this season's happiest surprises.

Waxflower may be delicate in appearance, but it's one of the hardest-working flowers we grow. Its tiny star-shaped blooms, fresh fragrance, airy branching stems, and exceptional vase life make it a florist favorite.

One of the greatest joys of flower farming is that every year writes a different story. The weather, the seasons, and Mother Nature always have the final say, and sometimes they reward us with surprises that are even more beautiful than we imagined.

As July draws to a close, we're remind that some of the season's greatest joys are the ones we never saw coming… and that's part of the magic of flower farming.

Why Leucadendron Have Become a Designer's Secret Weapon

In floral design, flowers often get the spotlight. But ask experienced designers what they reach for again and again, and many will tell you it's the ingredients that provide structure, texture, color, and longevity that truly bring an arrangement to life.

That's where Leucadendron shines.

These remarkable members of the protea family have become indispensable design elements, offering far more than traditional greenery. With their vibrant bracts, architectural forms, and exceptional vase life, Leucadendron adds dimension and character that can transform an ordinary arrangement into something unforgettable.

As we harvest our summer and fall crop here in Southern California, four varieties stand out for their unique contributions to floral design: Safari Sunset, Jester, Ebony, and Goblet.

When You Need Bold Color: Safari Sunset

One of the first signs of summer in our fields is the emergence of Safari Sunset. As spring fades and the days grow longer, its signature red bracts begin to appear, signaling the start the summer harvest season.

For designers, Safari Sunset is a workhorse. Its rich red tones bring warmth and energy to arrangements, while its long stems and distinctive texture make it incredibly versatile. It can be tucked into lush bouquets, featured in statement centerpieces, or even serve as a focal element in boutonnieres.

When You Need Contrast and Personality: Jester

Sometimes an arrangement needs more than greenery… it needs character.

Jester delivers exactly that with its striking blend of green, crimson, and creamy white foliage. Every stem offers a unique combination of colors, creating natural contrast and visual interest that immediately draws the eye.

Designers often turn to Jester when creating summer and autumn palettes because it bridges multiple color stories at once. It complements warm seasonal tones while adding a fresh, unexpected alternative to traditional foliage.

When You Need Drama: Ebony

As floral trends continue to embrace richer, moodier palettes, Ebony has become a favorite among designers looking to create depth and sophistication.

Also known as Burgundy Sunset, this variety is prized for its deep purple-black foliage and dramatic presence. While related to Safari Sunset, Ebony offers an entirely different mood… one that feels luxurious, modern, and unmistakably bold.

As the season progresses, the bracts surrounding the blooms deepen into wine-red tones, creating stunning sprays that add movement, texture, and complexity to arrangements. Whether paired with soft neutrals, jewel tones, or other dramatic botanicals, Ebony has a way of elevating everything around it.

When You Need Structure and Movement: Goblet

Some botanical elements provide color. Others provide texture. Goblet provides both, along with something every designer values: structure.

Named for its distinctive cup-shaped bracts, Goblet brings an architectural quality that instantly adds dimension to arrangements. Its smooth, sculptural form creates movement throughout a design while contributing subtle shifts of green, gold, and reddish tones.

Goblet pairs beautifully with everything from romantic garden roses to bold proteas and banksias, making it one of the most versatile Leucadendron we grow.

More Than Greenery

One of the biggest misconceptions about Leucadendron is that they're simply foliage.

In reality, they often function more like flowers… bringing color, texture, form, and seasonality all in a single stem. They fill design gaps that flowers alone cannot, creating depth and interest while helping arrangements feel complete.

Whether it's the bold reds of Safari Sunset, the colorful personality of Jester, the moody elegance of Ebony, or the sculptural beauty of Goblet, each variety offers designers a unique creative tool. As these beautiful stems come into harvest, we're reminded why Leucadendron remain some of the most versatile and valuable crops we grow… and why they continue to be a designer's secret weapon season after season.

Best in Show: Brandi dela Cruz

It’s that time of the year when our pincushion fields high up in the hills of Ranibow start to look like firework displays that were pulled right out of the sky and tossed onto the steep hillsides. And when it comes to the ‘Best in Show’ display, there is no doubt Leucospermum Brandi dela Cruz takes the gold for its dazzling carpet of color and texture. A field full of blooms in rich golden-yellow with orange tints and each flower, large with a diameter of almost 6 inches. Breathtaking! This gorgeous variety is mostly a mix of Leucospermum reflexum and lineare parents...quite a stunning conjugal to say the least.

These fanciful blooms atop sturdy stems create colorful focal points not only in the field but when displayed in floral designs.

Where the Leucospermum Grow

Fields of leucospermum or more commonly called “pincushions” sway in the breeze blowing through the hills, creating a vibrant welcome mat for those who venture up into Rainbow Crest. These vibrant red, orange, peach, yellow and bi-colored flowering heads are formed mainly with long, sprout-like structures that end in a globular knob called a pollen presenter. Together, the mass of styles look a lot like pins bristling from a “pincushion”, a similarity that has given rise to the popular name for this genus.

Leucospermum comprises some forty-eight species, of which all but three are endemic to South Africa’s Cape Province. Flowering time is generally winter through late spring. Unlike flowers of the genus Protea, which rely on their showy bracts for visual appeal, leucospermum put all their art into the colors of the flowers themselves as well as the flowing shape of each curving component. These fanciful blooms atop sturdy stems create colorful focal points not only in the field but when displayed in floral designs.

A Passion for Flowers - Designing with Helen

Helen Davis has always loved flowers and plants. As a young mother in Yolo County, California, she discovered the art of floral design at the local fair. Feeling inspired, she decided to try her hand at designing and began participating in the fair’s annual design competition. A tradition she has held on to for the last 50 of her 89 years. Helen further developed her design skill while working for a good friend who needed help with her home-based floral business. Over the years, she has shared her passion for flowers with her children and grandchildren… spending time training and encouraging each of them.

A few years ago, while preparing for a competition at the fair and considering using protea in her arrangement, Helen was introduced to our Facebook page when her sister shared a post. Since then Helen regularly spends time on Facebook enjoying flowers posts… especially those with protea.

Helen’s ‘protea highlight’ happened this summer when Resendiz Brothers was the featured farm in the California State Floral Association’s booth at the State Fair in Sacramento. With some determination, her daughter, Laura, brought her to meet Mel and everyone with him in the booth. Helen was overwhelmed with the kindness shown to her. She was asked to pick the flowers of her choice and create her own special Protea Bouquet which she proudly took home with her. Helen’s love and enthusiasm for flowers will be a cherished memory not just for her but for all of us who got to meet her and hear her story that day!

Protea: Ever-Flowers

Did you know Proteas are ever-flowers? With proper post-harvest care blooms can last two to three weeks in the vase. Then they don’t die – they dry! Many Proteas retain their structural design and to some extent their color. When mixed in arrangements, they are as permanent as almost anything the botanical world provides.

Is there a second life? According to Martha Stewart Living Magazine Nov. 2015, “It’s a Perfect Union - There’s no rule against combining dried plants with fresh blooms; the effect. In fact, can be unexpectedly striking.” We couldn’t agree more, dried flowers can add unique texture and color to designs.

A Protea Pod or sometimes called “Protea Flat” is the wood-like base and stem of the flower that’s left after the long bracts and center dome is removed. They are great when added to arrangements, bouquets, wreaths and topiaries.

Feeling creative and enjoy crafts? Use dried flowers as raw materials for sculptural inventions. By themselves or in combination with other natural materials, proteas make fascinating ornaments, dolls and other creations.

Flannel Flowers: A Symbol of Purity

Did you know Flannel Flowers, a popular Australian native wildflower, has became sought after as a symbol of purity in many festival and religious ceremonies?

These dainty flowers have a daisy-like appearance with a raised textured center.  Each bloom has 10 or more floppy petals that are soft and feel just like 'flannel'.  Some varieties of flannel flowers have petals with light grey-green tips, but for the most part, the flowers are white.  The leaves are silver-grey and velvety in texture as well. 

When these fabulous flowers are mixed into bouquets or designs along with protea, grevillea, fillers flowers, leucadendron or eucalyptus they add a unique touch of sophistication, elegance and purity.

i-do.com.au

Polka Dot Bride - Fetching Flannel Flowers

Butterfly Philosophy

What to look for:

• Buy when flowers are half to fully open and have a fluffy appearance.
• Avoid bunches with droopy brown tips.
  

Flower Care:

1. Keep cool at all times.
2. Strip leaves from the bottom half of each stem and wash thoroughly.
3. Re-cut at lest 1/4" off each stem and place in cold water.
4. Always use a preservative as this will help the buds to open.
5. Replace water every 1 to 2 days.
6. To dry, hang upside down in a well ventilated room.

Interesting Facts: 

The 'flannel-like' texture of this flower is due to a film of fine hairs that cover the whole plant. The hairs reduce the loss of water from the plant, protecting it during times of drought.

The Flannel Flower has been chosen as Australia's national symbol to promote mental health awareness because of its inherent beauty and strength.  Several varieties are commonly found growing wild in the bush throughout Australia.  The Flannel Flower, as with all native Australian plants, needs to be adaptable and enduring in order to survive.

The flowering heads can be cut off and placed in a bowl of water.  Treated in this way these 'floaters' will last considerably longer.

Flower Trends: Confetti

What comes to mind when you think of 'Confetti'?  Small pieces or streamers of paper, plastic, mylar or metallic material which are usually thrown at parades, New Year's celebrations or weddings? 

Did you know this year Confetti is also a flower trend?  Yes, according to the Flower Trends Forecast: A Publication from of International Floral Distributors, Inc (IFD), "The Confetti event is colorful and joyful.  The expressiveness of bright hues and bold patterns create unending unique combinations that shout fun!  Tangerine, fuchsia, bright green and sunshine yellow are all part of the colors of Confetti and reflect the playful, fun personality of the event's host.  Gerbera daisies, poppies, dahlias, carnations, mums, pincushion protea and gloriosa lilies in bright colors create the expressive explosion of Confetti." 

With that colorful, joyful and fun description in mind, I felt inspired to share some of our favorite flowers and foliage that definitely create 'an expression of explosion' in any bouquet or design!

So, as they say at IFD, "Make it bright, make it playful, make it confetti." Enjoy!