It was way too pretty for that...
My white rice flowers, aren't exactly spectacular as a bloom, but en mass, they look quite beautiful. And they don't require much moisture to grow or flower. So my kind of plant!
I couldn't have them all on their own, in the vase however, so added some African daisies, a few sprigs of rosemary (with blue flowers) and a few grevillea flowers. Their spiral shaped pattern, is particularly beautiful to me, and a perfect offset against the delicate rice flower blooms.
I reckon I scored a beaut bouquet, for inside the house, just taking the time to plant, prune and mulch. A renewable source of beauty. Plus, these particular plants have the reputation for longevity, once cut too. So it should be around for at least a week or more.
I'm pretty happy with that. Finding the right plants to grow in our conditions, mean we can finally have cut flowers inside the house.
That grevillea flower is beautiful, Chris. My hubby isn't keen on natives so we don't have any growing here as he has been the gardener for years. I still have some freesias in a vase that I picked last week so they are lasting well. The ones in the garden aren't looking good at all after all the rain so I guess that's the end of them for this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I like my grevilleas. Believe it or not, I'm not a huge fan of natives, either. Well, I have my favourites which are worth sticking with, but I can understand why people wouldn't want the maintenance of them, as a whole garden style.
ReplyDeleteNatives often grow leggy and die, if you don't prune regularly. I put in a lot of natives in the beginning, believing they would out-perform the non-natives. Not the case. I got maybe 3 years out of them (if I was lucky) and they would just die. They needed way more pruning than the non-natives and in many cases, more water! I hate to say it, because its unpatriotic, but the native flora just didn't cut the mustard long term. My non-natives are are still with me though.
I keep trying different varieties of natives though, to see which ones might stick. I can say the Grevillea "Superb", and "Honey-eater" are still performing beautifully, and every emu bush I ever planted, is still with me. I'm finding the rice flower (only planted a few seasons ago) is performing well, with very little need of water. Callistemon's are an interesting native too. Some varieties, better suited than others. But natives aren't nearly as dependable as their reputation assumes. Just some select varieties are worth sticking with.
The flowers are lovely Chris, I don't remember seeing rice flowers before. I have never been that interested in natives either - I am learning more about them as I continue to improve my gardening skills.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherri. While natives can live in some pretty inhospitable conditions, they die young - like in under 5 years, in those inhospitable conditions. Or at least, that has been my experience. I think they're still worth experimenting with. If you want to try a native, you can't go wrong with the Grevillea Honeygem. Birds love it, its smells great and ours is still going after 8 years.
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