A Perfect Match: Protea and Peonies

Pink protea are definitely a personal passion. The velvety, bell-shaped blooms contrast beautifully with the soft petals of most flowers. They are standouts. A full-grown protea plant can produce 65 or more stems. There will be plenty of blooms to cut and enjoy indoors, and still some left in the garden for added pleasure. When left to dry in your home, protea deliver pleasure long after the plant’s season ends.

Another pink standout is the peony or also known as “Polish Poses”. They’re outrageously beautiful in bloom with lush foliage all summer long. Peonies are perennials that come back every year to take your breath away. In fact, some plants have been known to thrive for at least 100 years. For best results, the stems should be cut in the morning when the buds are still fairly tight. Peonies make wonderful cut flowers, lasting more than a week in a vase and they dry beautifully as well.

On days that call for a little extra bliss or magic, candy hues, mixed textures, and varied shapes emit homey spontaneity. A rustic French floral container, with ample room for plenty of blooms, becomes the perfect vessel for embracing an array of protea, peonies, grevillea flowers and, of course, fabulous foliage.

Bringing flowers into your home breaks the barrier between inside and out. It opens a window on nature’s astonishing world and conveys a special wisdom that increases the more you do it.

The Topiary

Topiary… the term may sound unfamiliar, but there’s no doubt you’ve seen the art around. Those hedges and shrubs that have been trimmed into amazing sculptures of everything from shapes to animals to people are topiaries. The art is defined as the horticultural practice of clipping shrubs or trees into shapes.

Topiaries date back to ancient Egypt, when rows of date palm were force-cut into shapes of cones. They returned in medieval times as a way of training fruit plants, and then again during the Italian Renaissance. In the 15th century, the Dutch became intrigued with creating topiary that resembled animals while the French preferred creating topiary into geometric shapes. Topiaries have continued to evolve, they’re not only restricted to formal landscaping structures, some are crafted from potted plants, like ivy or rosemary.

Today, creating a topiary no longer requires that you adhere to live plants, floral topiaries have become quite popular as well. Designing a floral topiary is a simple way to bring a touch of nature indoors… winter, spring, summer or fall. All you need are the flowers and foliage of your choice, floral foam, as well as a tree branch (or stick) and container to act as the support and showcase for your design. For our topiary, we’ve selected Serruria, Leucadendron, Phylica, Berzelia, Calycina and waxflower, blooms that can last two to three weeks with the proper care. Many of these botanicals will retain their structural design and to some extent their color long after their vase-life. They don’t die, they dry… Beautifully!