Despite being mid-winter here in South Australia, there are little hints of spring here and there, reminding us that the demise of the current season is inevitable. Which is a-okay with this cold adverse gardener!  My arrangements this week are of 'firsts' and 'lasts': the 'first' newly opened flowers of jonquils and buddleja and the 'last' nearly spent blooms of strawflowers and roses. Paperwhites Narcissus papyraceus, Narcissus tazetta ssp. italicus, no ID buddleja and Helichrysum bracteatum A closer view My second bunch uses blooms I trimmed before giving the roses their annual winter prune: Rosa 'Candy Stripe', including the plain pale pink bud on the left - an anomaly I found when pruning A closer view It was so cold today that I followed my flower arranging with a brisk walk to get my circulation going. There were little signs of spring around the neighbourhood too, including almond blossoms, which are always the first blossoms to bloom in...

Being winter here in Australia, it's nearly time to prune the roses (I normally do this in July). Despite the impending chop, one of my favorite roses, 'Candy Stripe' is still putting on a lovely display of blooms. 'Candy Stripe' is a tall, vigorous rose, growing to about 6 feet tall. It puts up with a lot; it's planted in heavy clay soil and each year it gets overrun by the giant Mexican tree daisy growing nearby. I've never seen even a hint of black spot on the leaves and the plant is rarely without flowers. Perhaps this rose's only downfall is its very faint perfume. I'm willing to forgive this for all its other positive attributes.  Placed in the vase alongside 'Candy Stripe' is the spike of an unknown dark red Cymbidium sp. Usually I don't pick orchids, preferring to bring them inside in their pots to enjoy their blooms. However, this one was a lost in its pot and a little snail munched, so I thought it would be better apprecia...

Though I'm not really a fan of cold weather, there is one winter spectacle I always look forward to: the first camellia bloom of the season. Camellia japonica 'Debutante' We are lucky to have three large established camellias in our garden. Judging by their size, I'd say they are the same age as our house, which was built in the 1960s. I also keep an additional five varieties in pots, the largest being C. japonica 'Black Tie', which is currently about 1.8 metres (six feet) tall. It has been happily growing in its container for many years now. Brown glazed bowl: no ID camellia Green triangle bowl: C. japonica 'Black Tie' Round green bowl: pale pink peony form C. japonica 'Debutante', white peony form with pink edges C. japonica ' Margaret Davis', mid pink no ID Small green vase: C. japonica 'Debutante' Square plate: Ginkgo biloba leaves While I was out picking flowers for this post, the beautiful golden leaves of a large p...

This week's feature flower, with its towering canes of exploding white daisy flowers, is the standout plant in my garden at this time of year. Easily reaching 4 metres (13 feet) tall, Mexican tree daisy Montanoa bipinnatifida is loved by bees and passers-by, several of whom have snuck up our driveway to snap a photo with their phones in recent days. Mexican tree daisy triffid The blooms are so fresh and pure Wrestling with a rose in our driveway   I recall picking a large vase full of of these flowers to take in to my Mother in hospital a few years ago. Disappointingly, they completely flopped during the car journey, even though I had placed them into water immediately after cutting. For this reason, I decided to display the blooms floating in a bowl - this way I could avoid wilting stems and enjoy the flowers close up. Simple and sweet With my hand for scale A bowl full of happiness Head over to Cathy's blog, Rambling in the Garden to see this week's vase-worthy creation...