Maraya (Mock Orange)

The leaves (greenery) of the maraya is very popular with florists. The small leaves are a brilliant green and quite shiney, and they do enhance the look of many arrangements.

The delicate white flower has a wonderful fragrance and in the early evening the air is filled with the fragrance, which I find very pleasant. However, many people get hay fever when the flowers are in bloom, and as they are very popular garden plant, I have some sympathy for folks who find them troublesome.

It doesn't help that the flowers bloom for many months of the year.

Hippeastrums

I remember that 12 months ago when I was house sitting at Manly, the hippeastrums were flourishing and they are doing so again this year. Perhaps the dry weather has helped them. In my garden some have just started blooming, but others where I don't get to water are not blooming and there's hardly any evidence that the plants are still alive.

Beauty

I'm going to have to do a little research on this flower which is in my garden. I've had several of these plants that throw up wonderful strong long leaves that I sometimes use in flower arrangements. I think most folk grow them for the leaves, but they have a lovely flower.

One of my plants (which is in a pot) has never flowered but this one is in a garden and occasionally throws up this beautiful flower.

It is spring and lots of plants are flowering at the moment, and many native flowers are doing extremely well with blooms - perhaps because of the long dry that we have had.

I've not seen these in any florist, so I don't know how they go as a cut flower.

Grevillea

The Grevillea is a popular Australian native flower in Australian gardens. It is popular for the unusual flowers that bloom, and for the fact that the tree is popular with birds and butterflies.

On the left is a close up view of the strange flower, and the leaves.

Orchid Flower

A tree which is common in gardens around Brisbane is the orchid tree - which during spring and other times of the year blooms with this exotic looking flower. It is not a true orchid of course - and it's name is really bauhinia.

There are differing colours - some trees are pink, and this one has more of a purple flower. They produce flowers prolifically and when the flowers die off there is a carpet of spent petals on the ground below the tree.

Arum Lillies

We don't see many lillies like this up here in Queensland - they are about and in some gardens particularly in the Gold Coast, or Sunshine Coast hinterlands, and florists who are a little more creative will use them.

My sister is a florist in Adelaide and though she is not working with fresh flowers at the moment (more with silk flowers), her friend called in with a lovely bunch of these when I was in Adelaide last week (early August 07).

The Adelaide Markets

One of my special visits when I am in Adelaide - is to visit the Adelaide markets. They are quite historic and I don't think have changed much in all the years I've known them.

When I was a child, my parents would not have visited the markets - as this is where the Italians and Greeks sold their wares - from strange gourmet foods, to the fresh fruit and vegetables that were grown in the many market gardens around the city. It certainly wasn't "trendy" as it has been for quite a few years.

The fruit and vegetables are the freshest, there are fish marekts, butchers, bakers, mushroom growers, gourmet food producers, wine cellar, and of course fresh flowers to be purchased at the markets.

I always like to see the flowers as there are often flowers there that we do not see here in Brisbane.

One flower that I noticed was Iceland Poppies - I've certainly never seen them in the florist shops in Brisbane.