St Andrews Cathedral Sneak Peak

Wednesday 17th August may have been overcast, drizzly and cold, but our delightful team braved the weather and produced a collection of photos that would rival anything Fashion Week will bring to the table!  The talented Ms Sophie B and myself came together with our lovely model (Ms S) to create some breathtaking shots that will impress and inspire.
Goddess Lilies, Forget-Me-Nots, Ranunculas, Freesias, Jonquils, Pearl Wax, Roses, Carnations and Cymbidium orchids (could it get any better? Ok, yes, Peonies would have topped it off nicely, but sadly they are not in season yet!!!)

St Andrews Cathedral provided the perfect backdrop, while the light drizzle added soft light and glistening foliage to the compositions.  A big thankyou to Sophie B for her divine photographic eye, and of course my lovely Ms S...you are beautiful, you are brave and you are an inspiration!!

More photos to come, check out our facebook page for more detail, including the limited edition Liberty of London fabric and broderie anglaise ruffle detail!

http://ilovepoppyandrose.com.au

Weddings are always a beautiful affair.  Bridesmaids, page boys and flower girls...flowers, flowers, flowers..."I Love Poppy and Rose" have discovered the secret to breathtaking flower girl attire...tutus!  In beautiful colour combinations, eccentric and quirky patterns (try black polka dots or mint green for a different spin on traditional...).  The tutus and exquisite matching tops from Poppy and Rose will give your special day that girly, carefree and intoxicatingly sweet aroma of happy, bygone days; where summer mornings were filled with watermelon and pink lemonade (for the pink tutu enthusiast) or mums Chanel perfume and iridescent opals (for the polka dot lover).
Give your little flower girls a day to remember, and present them with a Poppy and Rose tutu for your big day...they'll probably float down the aisle in sweet rapture with blissful happy smiles!!

Keith Wallace Cymbidium Nursery - NSW

I will NEVER get sick of Cymbidium Orchids.  I know that I tend to ramble on about these majestic, long lasting and colourful beauties; but really, can you blame me???  The other week I had the immense pleasure of travelling out to Keith Wallace's Cymbidium Nursery, and was met with more than just a couple of handsome men!  Keith and his mentor Gordon have been at the helm of cymbidium propagation for over 50 years.  The lengthy process was explained in such detail that I now have even more appreciation for the stems that miraculously appear every winter in the flower markets.  While you may be able to buy a cymbidium stem for your vase from a florist for say - $36 or thereabouts, the actual cost and time taken to produce that one stem is surely justified.
The flowers are actually 'artificially inseminated' (pardon the lack of verbal expression...) and are then painstakingly removed and nurtured until they form a seed pod (1 year).  From this, the seed is taken to a lab where it is grown in liquid agar (another year) until it is a small seedling.  It is then transplanted into a pot and nurtured until maturity (2 - 3 years) when it will produce a single stem (or two if you're lucky).  For those of you who have had the pleasure of seeing a MASSIVE, multi-stemmed cymbidium orchid at a lush hotel or gala event, please, bow in appreciation...it is at least 15 years old!!  The hard part is accepting that once it has stopped flowering, it is most likely 'disposed of'...sad.
This is just one lengthy process of propagation.  The hardest part is combining two plants in the hope of having a certain trait expressed in the offspring, only to find that there is a 1 in 250,000 chance of a single trait being acknowledged by the gene pool selection of the cymbidium orchid.
Hats off to Keith and Gordon...wowzers is all I can say!  A labour of love, and dedication to a true art.