Sunday, December 1, 2013

Bowls of sunshine


My mom wanted flowers to go on the long lunch tables for her birthday party. She asked for yellow, with some pink allowed, and a hint of blue. The roses I picked at Chart Farm the day before: Janine Heroldt, Johannesburg Sun, Christo Pienaar (all goldy-yellow) and Leana (pale pink). 


Most of the other flowers and greens came from the garden: South African natives peppermint pelargonium, gnidia, bulbine, streptocarpus, myosotis and plectranthus; and lemon verbena, mint, feverfew, marjoram, catnip, honeysuckle, cornflowers, coreopsis, verbascum and feverfew.

I included Confederate jasmine but had to pull it out later as it flopped overnight. Doesn't like being picked.


While my mom tackled some seriously large arrangements in the marquee erected in the garden, and our friend Elaine worked on two more in the kitchen, my works space was the iron table on patio, in the shade of the awning, while the southeaster raged in the poplar trees in the greenbelt.


      At lunchtime we all took a break and feasted on some pre-birthday smoked salmon and Champagne.


In the garden, the tent waited for its party.


4 comments:

  1. So very lovely. It is so grey here that I am craving some colour.

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  2. The bouquets are beautiful...and your parents' hydrangeas are so picture-perfect, too!

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  3. Beautiful! I hope your mother has a very happy birthday.

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  4. Absolutely delightful - you certainly have a way with arranging flowers

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