Autumn at Adeney Milk Bar Cafe

This weeks seasonal arrangements were chosen to reflect our beautiful Melbourne Autumn and also to pick up the beautiful wood within the cafe. Using burnt orange, copper and warm tones, freshly picked Hawthorn berries were mixed through with giant copper disc buds, caramel chrysanthemums, magnolia foliage and tropical leaves. Bringing the warmth to chillier days!

Flowers by: Heavy Petal.  Location: Adeney Milk Bar Cafe, Kew

Danusha + Michals Colourful Garden Wedding

In a beautiful fusion of Sri Lankan and Polish heritage, gorgeous bride Danusha wanted a celebration of colour with a splash of vintage for her backyard wedding. The garden was transformed into a rainbow with bright chinese lanterns and streamer strewn floating ceilings. I used mixed vintage glassware and milk bottles in varying heights and widths to create a quirky, provincial theme which complimented the assorted varieties of seasonal blooms. This included hot pink and red celosias, sapphire blue delphiniums, spray roses, sweet william, orchids and chincherinchees. Danusha's bridal bouquet was designed to look freshly picked with sunflowers, gloriosa lillies, bluebells, hydrangea, peony roses and mango calla lillies. Also included in the table arrangements were wheat stems. In Shakespeare’s time, sheaves of wheat were carried in the wedding procession and sometimes tucked into the Bride’s veil. Wheat is also a symbol of fertility.  It is referred to as the “Giving Grain”, and because wheat was historically a sign of bounty and prosperity, it was also the incubus for the advent of the Wedding Cake.The following photos are featured on Polka Dot Bride. Photography by: Sorrento Wedding Photography.

SPACE balls

Sick of your plants just being plants and growing out of the ground? I mean...how boring right? Wouldn't it be rad to pretend we are in space, and see plants orbiting around our room like we are astronauts....OR...stoned!? So there's this new craze that's making terrariums "so yesterday" called Kokodama. It's actually an old Japanese botanic art form that has recently been revived.  I feel like they are an acquired taste and suit a more modern space, but when done right...they are pretty cool. They are also great for balconies, porches and well lit retail/hospitality spaces. Like most plants (and people)....they don't like to be neglected and need a little lurve to thrive. This love comes by way of a little misting of water every morning. That's all. I wish we all just needed that to flourish.
CLICK HERE for a nifty little DIY guide from the clever people at Design Sponge who lifted it from Aura Scaringi (Netherlands based designer). Pretty mossy goodness.

Image from http://thepalmroom.wordpress.com/

Back to Botanics

Trends.... they come and go. But they are SO interesting. What goes on the catwalk, what happens politically, seasonally, universally....influences what colours are 'now', what scatter cushions dot our couches, whether we sprinkle pomegranates on our salads,  queue for a taco at the latest portable funky food van or roll up the sleeves of a fabulous military jacket. As neon slowly disappears into the horizon, taking the Flashdance soundtrack with it.... there's always a period where it all goes back to basics. This is NOW. Ancient grains are popping up on menu's all over town, heirloom vegetables, monochromatic classic fashion and music that sounds like it belongs in the background of a barn dance with a scruffy waistcoated man tapping his foot in timely agreeance.


Enter the floral trend which is not really a trend because it is and always will be my preferred method of floral styling. But everything is pointing to 'origin' and right now it's a celebration of simplicity, the 'organic' and the roots. This weeks arrangements are 'Plantation' style.

Via Sofa.com

via: vtinteriors.blogspot.com

Swan flower and Bird of Paradise foliage for Axil Coffee Roasters. By Heavy Petal.

Don't they look like luminous little chinese lanterns!?

Pineapple lilly, cordyline leaves + ink berry @ Axil Coffee Roasters. By: Heavy Petal.

Pineapple lilly, cordyline leaves + ink berry @ Axil Coffee Roasters. By: Heavy Petal.

neon love

I have NO words for how cool these perspex wall mount vases are. NO WORDS.
Australian made by Lovestar and discovered by stalking a fab florist that I love from afar... the flowerdrum.

Where do I begin?

Most creatives I know are terrible at self promotion. I'm one of them. I also find social media/marketing quite overwhelming. I only got my first iphone late last year. I'm still yet to grasp the app's and usability that amaze the masses and think I'm using it with the basic functionality of a child in kindergarten. In saying that, my friends daughter (in kindergarten) has previously seized my phone, dotting it with emoticons and playing games I never knew existed with the confident sweeping of her little fingers. I feel so small. As technology and maddening devices surge forward at a tsunami inducing rate, I delight in one of the traditional offerings and crafts that never go out of date. No I'm not a cobbler, or a lady of the night.... (yet)....but I am a florist and love to make things look pretty. I'm excited to have the support of many in this pursuit which has spanned nearly 20 years.

Now I guess it's time to put myself out there, collaborate with some fantastically talented artists/minds and hopefully embrace social media on a wider, less intimidating scale. I'm starting with the simplicity of a blog based site and linking it to my social mediums which is essentially 'opening up my world' and offering up a little slice of me. There will be over sharing, there will be some bad photography (anything I take photos of anyway), there will be opinions on random things you might not agree with, but most of all there will be me.

Stuff I'm into this week...

1. Celosia's: They look like fuzzy brains and they are intriguing. I used them in my arrangement for Axil Coffee Roasters this week.

2.  My Kitchen Rules: A cooking show with personality and soul. It's like an insight into someone else's dinner party

3. Eats: The fact that a Thai Tiki Hut has opened up in my favourite Northcote/Thornbury strip

Photo courtesy MilkBar mag

 4. Listening to:

Groove Armada – Superstylin' - Original Mix
Tegan & Sara - Closer
Phoenix - If I ever feel better
Van Halen - Why Can't this be Love
Dirty Vegas - Little White Doves