FFF757 - IRISES

We already have many Spring bulbs flowering in our garden and of course the florist shops are full of bunches of cut flowers that remind us that Winter is only the prelude to Spring. Here are some buds of Dutch iris, a great favourite.

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FFF747 - PURPLE PRINCE

Beautiful roses of the Brindabella Purple Prince™ variety. This modern shrub rose is highly regarded for its intense, traditional rose fragrance and superior disease resistance. it has large, fully double blooms (approximately 10 cm in diameter) that open in a rich magenta-purple and often fade to a deep lavender as they age. Noted for having one of the strongest perfumes available in modern shrub roses, this rose matches beauty of colour with delightful aroma.

It is a vigorous, bushy shrub reaching a mature size of about 1.5-2.0 m tall and wide. It has clean, dark green, glossy leaves that are highly resistant to black spot and powdery mildew and is often advertised as a "no spray rose". It requires at least six hours of direct sunlight for best flowering performance. It makes a good cut flower.

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FFF740 - ECHINACEA

Echinacea hybrid "Sweet Fuchsia Sunseekers" is perfect for a spectacular show of purple-red flowers through summer and autumn. Its tidy and compact rosette of foliage is complemented by masses of big blooms crowned with a central cone. This easy-to-grow perennial coneflower is happy in most well-draining soil and once established, needs very little water. Attractive to pollinators, Echinacea "Sweet Fuchsia Sunseekers" is a great cut flower to pop in a vase and brighten up your home too.

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FFF738 - SIAM TULIP

Curcuma alismatifolia, Siam tulip or summer tulip is a tropical plant native to Laos, northern Thailand, and Cambodia. Despite its name, it is not related to the tulip, but is a close relative of turmeric. It can grow as an indoor plant. It is a perennial herb growing up to 0.61 metres tall. 

The plant features vibrant pink bracts—the colorful, tulip-shaped structures shown—which protect small, inconspicuous true flowers. Malvidin 3-rutinoside is a pigment responsible for bract color in C. alismatifolia.

These plants thrive in bright, indirect light and prefer high humidity. As tropical perennials, they go dormant during winter, losing their foliage and requiring very little water until spring. They are popular both as decorative houseplants and as long-lasting cut flowers in floral arrangements.

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FFF736 - RUDBECKIA

Rudbeckia is a plant genus in the Asteraceae or composite family. Rudbeckia flowers feature a prominent, raised central disc in black, brown shades of green, and in-between tones, giving rise to their familiar common names of coneflowers and black-eyed-susans. All are native to North America, and many species are cultivated in gardens for their showy yellow or gold flower heads that bloom in mid to late summer.

The species are herbaceous, mostly perennial plants (some annual or biennial) growing to 0.5–3.0 m tall, with simple or branched stems. The leaves are spirally arranged, entire to deeply lobed, and 5–25 cm long. The flowers are produced in daisy-like inflorescences, with yellow or orange florets arranged in a prominent, cone-shaped head; "cone-shaped" because the ray florets tend to point out and down (are decumbent) as the flower head opens.

A large number of species have been proposed within Rudbeckia, but most are now regarded as synonyms of the accepted quite limited list. Several currently accepted species have several accepted varieties. Some of them (for example the black-eyed susan, R. hirta), are popular garden flowers distinguished for their long flowering times. Many cultivars of these species are known.

Rudbeckia is one of at least four genera within the flowering plant family Asteraceae whose members are commonly known as coneflowers; the others are Echinacea, Dracopis, and Ratibida. Rudbeckia species are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species including cabbage moths and dot moths. Join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below, and please leave a comment once you have done so.

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FFF735 - GLADIOLUS

Violet-colored gladiolus (shown here is the very popular variety 'Purple Flora'), offer stunning, tall spikes of rich, velvety purple blooms perfect for borders, cutting, and adding vertical interest to gardens in full sun during summer. These reliable corms are easy to grow in well-drained soil, attract pollinators, and can provide continuous colour if planted in succession every few weeks.

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FFF726 - DIANTHUS

Dianthus hybrid "Grace Bay" is a striking fragrant cottage garden flower. Like ruffled creamy petticoats edged in burgundy, the double mini carnation-like flowers on sturdy stems tightly pack the emerald green foliage. Spicy-scented flowers are eye-catching and elegant. Dianthus Grace Bay is a versatile perennial at home in mixed borders, containers, butterfly, heirloom and cutting gardens. A sun-loving beauty from the Flow® series. The more the flowers are cut, the more they bloom.

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FFF715 - ANEMONES

Anemone, is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones. They are closely related to Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla) and Hepaticas (Hepatica); some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone. The name of the flower is from the Greek ἀνεμώνη (anemōnē) which means "daughter of the wind", from ánemos "wind" + feminine patronymic suffix -ōnē.

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FFF711 - AT THE FLORIST

It is a very civilised thing to be able to go into a florist shop and buy fresh flowers on any day of the year, even in the midst of Winter!  Flowers not only make fantastic gifts, but they are also indispensable in one's own home as a means of cheering people up and beautifying one's interior spaces. 

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FFF700 - ROSES

The last of the Autumn Roses are blooming, and as Autumn progresses and  the weather cools, rose bushes begin to go to sleep. We are lucky in Melbourne where the climate is mild to get roses to the end of Autumn. That means, the rose garden has something to offer every day between November and May...

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FFF695 - AUTUMN CHRYSANTHEMUMS

The Chrysanthemums in our garden have started blooming this year and that means Autumn is well and truly here. By Mothers' Day all the chrysanthemum varieties will be in their glory and that may explain why in Australia, these flowers are associated with gift-giving to our mothers on their special day. The widespread availability, together with the beauty of the flowers and the way the word chrysantheMUM includes our mum is why they are popular this time of the year!

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FFF693 - ROSA, FÜR ELISE

Rosa "Für Elise" is a rose variety named after Ludwig van Beethoven's famous piano piece, "Für Elise" (meaning "For Elise"). It's a floribunda rose with deep pink/magenta cupped blooms and a strong fragrance, known for its healthy growth and award-winning status.

"Für Elise" roses feature deep pink/magenta cupped blooms with frilled edges. This variety won many awards at the 2023 National Australia Rose Trial Gardens, including the Gold Medal, Australian Rose of the Year, Best Rose of the Trial and Best Floribunda of the Trial.

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FFF686 - DOUBLE LILIUM

Double Lilium hybrids are bright and cheerful and boast an extra whorl of petals which sets them apart. This group of lilies are beautifully coloured and often pollen free as well. Fun to grow and perfect both in the garden and as a long-lasting cut flower. The variety illustrated here is 'Salvo', developed by Vletter en den Haan in the Netherlands.

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FFF679 - AT THE FLORIST SHOP

It's Summer and the florist shop is full of fresh flowers delivered daily. The price of fresh flowers is still reasonable, despite our rising inflation and rising costs of production.

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FFF678 - ASIATIC LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

Asiatic Lilies are a very popular garden and florist flower and they offer a brilliantly colourful range of blooms to choose from. The bulbs of Asiatic lilies are tough and resilient, providing a bounty of colourful blooms for vases, very easily grown and wonderfully tolerant of searing Australia's hot Summers. Asiatic Lilies come in a wide range of brilliant colours from bright red to soft and pretty pink which means they can be used to create pockets of colour or gentle waves of soft and pretty cottage colours. 

Asiatic Lilies have more advantages in that they are great in pots and the bulbs can be planted anytime between May and October (in the Southern Hemisphere).

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FFF675 - STRAWFLOWER

Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia. Described by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803, it was known as Helichrysum bracteatum for many years before being transferred to a new genus Xerochrysum in 1990.

It grows as a woody or herbaceous perennial or annual shrub up to a metre tall with green or grey leafy foliage. Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn; their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals. The species is widespread, growing in a variety of habitats across the country, from rainforest margins to deserts and subalpine areas.

The golden everlasting has proven very adaptable to cultivation. It was propagated and developed in Germany in the 1850s, and annual cultivars in a host of colour forms from white to bronze to purple flowers became available. Many of these are still sold in mixed seed packs. In Australia, many cultivars are perennial shrubs, which have become popular garden plants. Sturdier, long-stemmed forms are used commercially in the cut flower industry.

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FFF657 - VASE WITH DELPHINIUMS

This is an image of one of my original paintings, "Vase with Delphiniums". This particular painting is available as a quality jigsaw puzzle produced by Woodbests with all wooden pieces in a beautiful presentation box and display easel for the cover for reference. It is available in three sizes and can be ordered here.

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FFF654 - BUTCHER'S BROOM

Ruscus aculeatus, known as butcher's-broom, is a low evergreen dioecious Eurasian shrub, with flat shoots known as cladodes that give the appearance of stiff, spine-tipped leaves. The Latin specific epithet aculeatus means "prickly". Small greenish flowers appear in spring, and are borne singly in the centre of the cladodes. The female flowers are followed by a red berry, and the seeds are bird-distributed, but the plant also spreads vegetatively by means of rhizomes. It is native to Eurasia and some northern parts of Africa.

Ruscus aculeatus occurs in woodlands and hedgerows, where it is tolerant of deep shade, and also on coastal cliffs. Likely due to its attractive winter/spring colour, Ruscus aculeatus has become a fairly common landscape plant. It is also widely planted in gardens, and has spread as a garden escapee in many areas outside its native range. It is a favourite of florists in flower arrangements, as the dark green foliage is long-lasting and attractive. The plant grows well in zones 7 to 9 on the USDA hardiness zone map.

The plant is known as "Butcher's Broom" as the stiff, hardy, prickly foliage cut in bunches was used by butchers to sweep up the blood-soaked sawdust on the floor of their shops.

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FFF618 - CONEFLOWER

Isopogon cuneatus, commonly known as coneflower, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with oblong to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and flattened-spherical heads of glabrous pale to purplish pink flowers.

Isopogon cuneatus typically grows to a height of 1.5–2.5 m and has hairy pale to reddish brown branchlets. The leaves are oblong to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 40–100 mm long and 10–30 mm wide. The flowers are arranged in conspicuous, flattened-spherical, sessile heads on the ends of branchlets, 40–55 mm long in diameter with broadly egg-shaped involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are about 25 mm long, pale to purplish pink and glabrous. Flowering occurs from July to October and the fruit is a hairy oval nut, fused with others in a hemispherical cone up to 35 mm in diameter.

Coneflower grows in heath, shrubland and low woodland on stony hills and swampy flats between Albany, the Stirling Range and Cheyne Bay in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions. Garden hybrids have been developed and the cut flower trade is investing in this unusual and beautiful flower.

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FFF616 - GERALDTON WAX FLOWER

Chamelaucium, also known as waxflower, is a genus of shrubs endemic to south western Western Australia. They belong to the myrtle family Myrtaceae and have flowers similar to those of the tea-trees (Leptospermum). The most well-known species is the Geraldton Wax, Chamelaucium uncinatum, which is cultivated widely for its large attractive flowers.

Chamelaucium ‘Petticoat Pink’, is a hybrid popular with Melbourne gardeners and is also planted in parks. Petticoat Pink is a medium sized shrub with large mid-pink flowers in profusion during spring. The flowers are offset by narrow, dark green leaves. Geraldton Wax is grown commercially for the cut flower trade. Grown in gardens as a decorative shrub or informal hedge and is also useful for erosion control. Requires well drained soil and a sunny position but withstands part shade. Tolerates extended periods of dryness and most frosts. Prune lightly after flowering. 2-3m high x 2-3m wide.

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