Fire my soul

Arrangement #153 - "Fire my soul"

Stay @ Home composition.

Truly this lockdown is becoming more challenging to our soul. So I decided today to do a little gardening to keep my time occupied and my mind working. I cleared some unwanted bushes around the heliconia plants and collected some large fern leaves, green as well as dried ones from the garden . I feel its time for me to get back to daily cut flowers arrangements like what I used to do before since there is plenty of time at hand these days.

For today's composition I used two varieties of heliconia plants, the Red Lobster's Claw and the Heliconia latispatha variety. I name the arrangement " Fire my soul".
For more earlier compositions using heliconias, please check them out by following this link ...>>>

https://dailycutflowers.blogspot.com/search/label/Heliconia

Heliconia latispatha

Hail to the Heliconias

Today's pictures were taken in Bintulu and I'm posting them from Kuching. The reason being, I was too busy with preparations to go to Kuching that little time was available to prepare for this post in Bintulu.

Today ( 1st July) I'm back in Kuching after a month long stay in Bintulu.

Today's show comes in a progression. I have used three types of heliconias. Stage 1 - the yellow bracts of parrot flower is set against the green leaves of the lady's palm. Stage 2 - the green tips and orange colours of the Heliconia latispatha join the crowd. Stage 3 - the red 'Firecrackers' ( Heliconia rostrata) finally tops the show.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3 - as the final arrangement.....Arangement # 147.....Hail to the Heliconias.

Saturday Matinee

Early this morning I was happy to notice the Creamfruit ( Roupellia grata) plant showing off its white flowers ( see inset). This plant was bought from Kuching a couple of months ago. When pruned the plant seems to grow into a beautiful shrub and may exhibit a climbing habit if left unchecked. To match it I gathered as many flowers and colourful bracts as I could.

On the list are the heliconias ( 4 varieties), gardenia ( 2 varieties) and the lilium or pink lily hybrid. Today's special I thought. Make the composition as colourful and striking as possible.

Arrangement # 143

Today being a Saturday, I would like to name the composition as ...Saturday Matinee.

Canna Stop Loving You

There are three varieties of cannas that I grow in my Kuching garden right now. There are in colours of pink, red and orange. Today I have just made a cutting of the pink canna. With a little bit of help from the two reliable heliconia varieties viz heliconia stricta and latispatha, a simple composition is done.
Would like to name it..... Canna Stop Loving You.

Arrangement # 136

Red Ginger, Red Ti and Heliconias

Arrangement # 133

Having arrived Bintulu safely after a ten hours journey from Kuching by road on the 3rd of March, I felt inspired to do a little composition to indicate the free abundance of red colours in our garden today. From a clump of red ginger ( Alpinia purpurata) I cut a stalk of brilliant red terminal bracts arranged like a parasol. Next on the list were the heliconias, particularly the heliconia stricta with four emerging red lobster claw-like bracts and the orangy red heliconia latispatha with its characteristic green tips. To hold them firm in the glass vase I sandwitched the pastel red young leaves of the Cordyline terminalis or Red Ti and two variegated wild banana leaves ( Musa Hirta) . Since the materials were close at hand it took me less than 15 minutes to finish the composition. Fully satisfied, I call this arrangement....Welcome Back.

A Vibrant New Year

Arrangement # 130

The general theme of today's show is red, produced by the somewhat vibrant reddish colours of the heliconia bracts and the fiery red ginger. Added as well is the yellow bract of heliconia 'lobster claw'. I find now that the very young leaves of the Red Ti ( cordyline terminalis) to be a useful if not a definitive foliage for tropical cut flowers. How I treat the heliconia sassy pink is easy these days. Its long pendulous inflorescences can just be coiled and sunk into the glass vase.
For a vibrant show, I call the above composition... A Vibrant New Year.

Ixora coccinea,Heliconias and Variegated Cordyline

I was extremely glad to notice that the plants at our front garden in Kuching were doing well in our one month absence.  The Ixora coccinea shrub was at its best,very showy with orange flowers in a tight and compact form.

Arrangement # 123

But then as I moved around the garden which is very much 'in progress', I found that I could use the heliconias to good effect this time around.  In goes the Heliconia psittacorum and Heliconia latispatha.  To add artistry to the show I threw in two leaves of the variegated cordyline terminalis which have red colours around the edges of the leaf.

Having arrived Kuching in the best of spirits, I call the above composition...Kuching Melody.

About Bracty Beauties

Arrangement # 122

The month of November is very wet in this part of the world. As a result many types of flowering shrubs will not be in their best. Thus it is good to have a mixture of plants that do well in the rainy months as well as the hot and sunny periods when the rains are less frequent. One such species is the heliconias. Today I did not see any good blooms except those of the heliconias. Therefore I scouted for the parrot flowers ( heliconia psittacorum) and found two varieties. One close relative , the heliconia latispatha with its green tips exhibited herself very well and I thought why not? I had the sassy pink twist around the rest of the orange and yellow bracts and finally let the sassy pink terminal bract come out straight from the glass vase while the rest of the company followed in unison. To add more lustre and warmth to the display, I added the Red Ti ( cordyline terminalis) leaves which I rolled back to give a certain artistry to the show. "Wait", cried the the banana terminal bracts of which I had two varieties. One in pink and the other in deep purple. They too joined today's composition as added interest. It is a day of bright colours and hues despite the gloomy overcast of November. Thus the title of today's composition.....Bracty Beauties.

Heliconia, Frangipani and Red Ti leaves

Arrangement # 104

This morning I bought a glass vase that is well..sexy looking i.e. by the look of its curves. I was thinking of how to exploit its curvature. For many weeks now I am thinking of other ways to use the dark red/black coloured leaves of the Red Ti ( cordyline terminalis). Today I rolled it up and inserted three leaf blades into the vase to hold together the stalks of the pink frangipani and the heliconia latispatha.Wrapping the flower stalks with the Red Ti leaves in water removed the nakedness out of sight.

By one look there's no doubt that the lady in red is ....well.... Dressed to Kill.

Wild Pineapple Fruits and Day Lilies

Arrangement # 87

Three fruits of the dwarf wild pineapple,one stalk of the pink canna hybrid,three stalks of the the day lily ( Hemerocallis) and three stalks of the heliconia latistapha make it to the table today.

Day lilies do not last long, perhaps a day or two. Slightly longer would be the canna flowers. But the heliconia latistapha would last the longest among the two mentioned earlier.

The wild pineapple fruit I add to suggest' fruitful days.' Yes, today despite me fasting, I did a lot of work at the farm and when I broke my fast this evening around 6.32 pm my sacrifice was well worth it. Sweetened and made more meaningful of course by the hard work put into it.

Without much ado, I declare today's composition...Fruitful Days.

( Note: This clump of heliconia latistapha gave me the inspiration for today's presentation)

A Jarful of Satisfaction

Arrangement # 77

( In Three Stages)

I have these 'tongkat ali' roots ( a local aphrodisiac) inside the jar for sometime. But it was just the tongkat ali and the brown jar. I was however inspired to make a composition based on the jar and the aphrodisiac this morning.

To match the jar's brown colour I add three bracts of calathea with its minute yellow flowers hiding behind their thick brown bracts, making the flowers less showy as is charateristic of this species. At the lower storey I placed a few stalks of the pseuderanthemum ( Pseuderanthemum recticulatum ), the flowers of which are held by terminal spikes. They have white blossoms with purplish spots radiating from the center. The young leaves are very attractive due to its golden yellow colouration.

Then I add another heliconia species, the orangish heliconia latispatha with its lovely green tips.

Finally to add drama to the whole scene, I made the heliconia sassy pink to circle the base of the jar.
Yes...completely satisfied I felt and in no uncertain terms call this composition....a Jarful of Satisfaction.

Vibrant Colours of Heliconia Bracts

Arrangement # 76

When I arrived Bintulu yesterday  ( 27/8) it was dark and rainy. Couldn't see much and there wasn't time to make my daily cut.  I thought sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The very fact that I arrived Bintulu safely after a ten hours land journey was something I should be thankful for. Therefore I slept last night tired and grateful.
Today's composition was done late in the afternoon after about a half day's shopping,meeting friends,checking my postal office box, banking matters and most of all to repair my computer and handset modem that had went a bit haywire. With every thing in place, I set about to have my pick for the day.  By one turn of my shoulder, I saw heliconias in various colours stealing my attention.
Without further ado,  two varieties were chosen. Then I made a cutting of a mild pink canna.So the three goes into a rotten tree trunk, which became my favourite tall container for quite a while now. The above picture captures stage one.
Stage Two:

The heliconia 'sassy pink' with its long stalk and some of its pink bracts removed was made to circle around the rotten trunk suggesting an entangled affair. The top section of the display's space was occupied by the bright orange heliconia latispatha. Such strong showing of colours I thought need to be smoothen and given interest. Therefore I added a few blooms of the jasmine ( jasmine multiflorum)
Stage Three:

Finally to conclude I added scent to the composition by throwing fresh white and fragrant blooms of the plumeria ( plumeria obtusa).

Feeling happy and much pleased, I call this composition .....Red Twine in the Sunset.

An Amazing Fascination

Today's Specialty:

• Bright red (scarlet) spikes - Costus woodsonii
• Golden yellow with green tips ( red bracts removed) - Heliconia latispatha
• Brown bracts ( unnamed species)
• Small circular disc cups ( unnamed species)

Presentation:
Display as table arrangement with abstract painting background and laid on a Sarawak bead table mat.

Storyline

Just the other day while at the Sarawak Regatta 2008 I bought a Sarawak bead piece ( like the one you see on the left of the picture) based on an Orang Ulu design. It is extremely colourful and intricately done. When I plan to produce today's composition, I was thinking of the bead piece and an abstract painting I did a long time ago ( still in my collection).Thus this composition explains it all.My fascination with Sarawak beads, heliconias and painting.

Arrangement # 60

Straight out, I couldn't think of any other title except....An Amazing Fascination.