Hello all,

So, it's spring and I'm reaping the rewards of the work I put into the garden during winter. The jonquils, with their heady perfume are in great abundance after I planted dozens of bulbs, staggering them to extend their flowering life.

I was, recently, assembling a metal shelf but didn't need all the shelves. I had three left over and just couldn't throw them away. Looking around the studio, the heavy, ceramic container beckoned. I made the arrangement, below, and placed it on the table. It fitted into the theme 'Using Both Fresh and Unconventional Material'. However, each time I walked past it, I felt there was something not quite right.

Metal shelves, arum lilies, nandina domestica berries and alstroemeria psittacina leaves

It came to me, eventually, that I should have used only two of the metal shelves. A good example of 'less is more'.

My leafless wattle, acacia aphylla. is a rather delicate shrub, which is beautiful all year round but is particularly so in spring. Unlike other wattles the flowers are not clustered together but are separate, looking like little jewels scattered on the branches. The leucadendron seemed to team up well with the wattle in the wall arrangement, below.

My magnolia soulangeana is a large tree, however, the last couple of years it has produced flowers only on the lower branches. I had considered cutting it back last year but thought I'd give it one more year before doing so. It looks like I can't put it off much longer.

In the arrangement, below, I teamed magnolia branches with two stems of cymbidium orchids and some alstroemeria psittacina leaves,

The stachyurus shrub is glorious at the moment. Here is a single stem with a single camellia.

I've been in hospital the last couple of weeks having had surgery and a rather protracted and painful recovery. Today I have been transferred to a rehabilitation hospital to continue said recovery. Knowing that I will be out of commission for a while, I had prepared two posts. One of them I published last week and this one today. Whilst in hospital, Vicky and Lucy brought me flower arrangements, which I wanted to include in this post. Fortunately the room was spacious and was able to accommodate three arrangements.

Vicky's arrangement using Japanese flowering 
quince and aspidistra leaves 

Below are Lucy's two arrangements

Monstera deliciosa, cymbidium
orchid, jonquils and dietes leaves.

Japanese flowering quince and
camellias

Bye for now,

Emily