A Merry Hibiscus Flower Boat

This morning I had an early morning walk with my cats.  We climbed the Vegetation Island No.1 Hill and later they followed me to the east valley area of the farm where I planted beds of hibiscus plants.  The red hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia and Hawaii as well.  Next to the hibiscus collection was this flowering yellow palm tree ( Chrysalidocarpus lutescens), shown below.  From this plant I took a branch of its half-ripe green fruits which seeemed a likely candidate for today's display.

A few meters away from the yellow palm was this beautiful agave plant.  On closer examination, I discovered that the leavs are somewhat cupped and I thought they looked much like a boat.  Immediately the idea of a 'flower boat' composition filled the air. In the wink of an eye,my attention was re-directed to the hibiscus beds and in a blink, the concept that whirled in my mind was...hibiscus flower boat.

When I was thinking what are the other plants that can be loaded into the flower boat, a butterly flew past me and I followed it to its pit stop. Lucky me , the butterfly was sucking honey at a nearby pagoda flower plant ( Clerondendrum paniculatum) . Well, think no more. The huge panicles of small salmon pink flowers of the pagoda flower would resonate well with the red hibiscus flowers.

Thus within minutes ( I think about ten minutes , no more or else the cats will disappear from sight ) the morning's composition was determined.

Firstly, to provide content or load to the flower boat I placed the yellow palm fruits at the base of the agave leaf . The red hibiscus filled up the middle and top end of the leaf.,like so.

Ok, it looks good so far. I have placed the agave leaf on an upturned banana leaf to obtain the  effect of waves in motion.

 

Then I saw on my way back to the chalet a cluster of dwarf yellow allamanda flowers ( Allamanda cathartica).While the red hibiscus petals are single and funnel-shaped, the yellow allamanda flowers have awhorled-leaf arrangement.

Arrangement # 39

Finally, to add merry making and a  mood of festivity to the occassion, I placed the pagoda flowers in between the red hibiscus and yellow allamanda flowers.Satisfied with the composition.. I named it..a Merry Hibiscus Flower boat.

Monsterous Passion

Arrangement#33

This arrangement is a variation from the previous one. A fresh spray of bleeding hearts flowers , four buds of Bignonia , a wild pineapple fruit and the very young bracts of the banana taken from its core are served on the leaf of the Monstera species. It appears that since the composition is served on the monstera leaf... I am tempted to call this display....a Monsterous Passion.

Passionately Wild

Arrangement #32

A miniature fruit of a dwarf wild pineapple species is placed in the center of four white bracts from the core of a banana flower spike. A tiny spray of bleeding hearts flowers is added to invoke passion. Served on an exotic leaf, the tip of a red bract is introduced to accentuate the exquisiteness of the composition. A rare show of passion gone wild...gets me obsessed with naming the composition......Passionately Wild.

Fascinating Ferns

Last week when I was doing a lot of underbrushing works at the Vegetation Island No.1 , I came across at least three samples of bird's nest fern that were attached to the tree trunks or branches. This morning while walking around the garden I encountered an old stump that was 'planted' with bird's nest fern probably a year ago. When I remove it from its hideout, I saw the rugged look of the stump, like my old pair of Levi's jeans. There is a certain appeal in being rustic and seasoned, especially by age and in we human, by experience. I thought I will make ferns as my central theme today.

Arrangement#22
In the above arrangement, I had the heliconia' sassy pink' bracts ( not fully opened yet) to emphasise the uniqueness of the wooden stump. The pink -red colours of the bleeding heart is supposed to keep the harmony between the pink colour of the heliconia and the metallic, rustic and brown colour of the wood. The small bird's nest is the center of attraction.... now, I call this arrangement...Rustic Love.

Arrangement#23

The general colour tones and hues of the above arrangement is yellow. The yellow tones of the plant varieties like the two bracts of the heliconia yellow 'parrot flower' and the fine flowers of Tristellateia at the level of the bird's nest fern suggests sunshine in one's life, gaiety, happiness, like having a pound of gold at today's prices. Therefore I would like to name the composition...Golden Happiness.

Bleeding Hearts

Arrangement # 17

The yellow bamboo culm ( stem) still fascinates me and this late afternoon I decided to cut its top section diagonally. I was thinking of the best candidate to fill up the empty bamboo vessel. While passing by the side of my chalet I saw a group of bleeding hearts flowers ( Clerondendron thomsonae) customarily lowering its sprays in late afternoon sun. "That's my candidate", my heart sang out. To enhance the emotion of heart felt passion I thought two bracts of red lipstick heliconia ( Heliconia stricta) will help accentuate and yet harmonise with the general emotional intensity of the composition. I thought the best title for the composition would be...yes, for sure....Bleeding Hearts.