Ranunculus in their tight paper layers, anemones with dark eyes, sweet peas, freesias, stock, tulips for a few short weeks, and waratahs in September and October if you’re quick. Kangaroo paw stands up in late spring, and by November the first peonies arrive.
Huzzah! Flowers, arranged out loud.
A floral studio in Adelaide. We design arrangements for homes and tables, installations for weddings, openings, Eid, Diwali and long dinners, and weekly flowers for houses, hotels and front desks. Every stem has a place, and we’ll tell you why it’s there.
It’s spring in Adelaide: ranunculus, anemones, sweet peas, stock, freesias, wattle.
It’s spring in Adelaide.
In season now: ranunculus, anemones, sweet peas, stock, freesias and the last armfuls of wattle.
Scroll, and the garden grows.
A garden that grows as you read.
Every flower here is cut from paper and set down by the rule a sunflower uses: turn 137.5 degrees, a little more than a third of the way round, and place the next floret.
Conditioning. Stems in, recut on the angle, and into cool water for a long rest before they’re arranged.
Opening. A dahlia opens from the outside in, each new petal 137.5 degrees round from the last.
It’s called the golden angle. Because it never quite repeats, no floret sits right behind another and none is left in the shade. You can see it in the spirals: count them one way, then the other, and you’ll get two neighbours from the run 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55. Keep scrolling and the heads open!
Press, and we’ll draw the spirals on the sunflower and the dahlia.
- Dahlia ‘Marmalade Roar’: 89 petals, each 137.5 degrees round from the last, in 13 spirals one way and 21 the other.
- Sunflower ‘Big Hello’: 610 florets. Count 34 spirals one way and 55 the other.
- Protea ‘Rosy Knuckle’: 55 florets on a cone, in 8 spirals one way and 13 the other.
- Eucalyptus ‘Silver Pennies’: round coins in pairs up an arching stem.
- Cornflower ‘Cobalt Confetti’: a branching spray of cobalt heads.
- Waxflower ‘Tiny Cheer’: a spray of pale pink florets.
- Ranunculus ‘Ruffle Parade’: 144 cream and pink petals, in 13 spirals one way and 21 the other.
- Pittosporum ‘Green Frill’: glossy leaves in little whorls.
- Jasmine ‘Long Goodbye’: a vine that arches over the dahlia, with clusters of cream stars.
What’s good right now, and what’s coming.
We build around whatever is at its best this week, and the bench changes more than you’d think!
Sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, lisianthus and hydrangeas, and the first dahlias by January.
Dahlias at their peak, chrysanthemums, nerines, amaranthus, rosehips and turning leaves.
Proteas, leucadendrons, banksias, hellebores, jonquils and camellias, then wattle right at the end.
We buy from growers and the flower market each week, so your flowers look like the season you’re in.
Flowers for a table, an archway, or every week.
Arrangements
Vases and hand-tied bouquets for homes, tables and gifts: birthdays, new babies, thank-yous and dinners. We build each one to order around what’s best that week, and wrap it in paper.
Lay one out
Installations
Arches, doorways, hanging clouds and long table runners for weddings, engagements, openings, Eid, Diwali and big family dinners. We plan it with you, build it on the day and take it all away after.
Plan a big dayWeekly flowers
A fresh arrangement every week, or every fortnight, for a house, a front desk or a hotel lobby. We collect the old one and leave the vase clean. (More in Cutting No. 06.)
How weekly worksTallest at the back, faces in a triangle, one stem to wander.
- Focal the big faces
- Filler small flowers for the gaps
- Foliage leaves to fill and frame
- Trailing one stem to wander
1Tallest to the back.
The stems that reach go in first, at the back and fanned a little, so nothing hides behind them.
2Three faces in a triangle.
The big blooms sit at the corners of a lopsided triangle: one high, two low and forward, faces turned out. Never in a row. Your eye goes round it and keeps going.
3Foliage to fill.
Eucalyptus and pittosporum go in round the base and between the faces, each turned a little further than the last, so no stem shows its knees.
4Filler in the gaps.
Waxflower, stock and cornflower tuck into the spaces the triangle leaves.
5One stem to wander.
Last, a trailing stem spills over the lip, on the side away from the tallest. It’s the bit that makes a bouquet look happy to see you.
Odd numbers, faces out, nothing standing to attention.
Florist’s words
- focal
- A big face, like a dahlia, a sunflower, a protea or a ranunculus. Three of them make the triangle.
- filler
- Small flowers in sprays, like waxflower, stock and cornflower, for the gaps.
- foliage
- The leaves: eucalyptus and pittosporum, to fill the shape and hide the stems.
- trailing
- A stem that hangs, like jasmine or amaranthus, left to wander over one side.
- conditioning
- A recut and a long rest in cool water before arranging.
- the golden angle
- 137.5 degrees: the turn from one floret to the next in a flower’s face.
- parastichy
- The spirals you can count in a sunflower’s face.
- wrap
- The paper round a hand-tied bouquet, folded and tied so it stands up on the way home.
- vessel
- Whatever holds the water: a vase, a bowl, a tin or a jar.
Now you have a go!
Pick your stems. We’ll lay them out the way we would at the bench, and tell you why each one went where it did.
Your stems
Arrow keys to move, Enter to add or remove, + and − to change the count.
What went where, and why
Add a stem to see an illustrative price.
The stems
- Focal: Dahlia ‘Marmalade Roar’ (55 cm, January to May), Sunflower ‘Big Hello’ (80 cm, December to March), Protea ‘Rosy Knuckle’ (50 cm, April to November) and Ranunculus ‘Ruffle Parade’ (40 cm, August to November).
- Filler: Waxflower ‘Tiny Cheer’ (June to November), Stock ‘Sunday Pillow’ (July to November) and Cornflower ‘Cobalt Confetti’ (September to February).
- Foliage: Eucalyptus ‘Silver Pennies’ and Pittosporum ‘Green Frill’, all year.
- Trailing: Jasmine ‘Long Goodbye’ (August to November) and Amaranthus ‘Tassel Drop’ (December to May).
The rule
- Tallest to the back.
- Three faces in a triangle.
- Foliage to fill.
- Filler in the gaps.
- One stem to wander.
This week’s bouquet
Two ‘Ruffle Parade’ ranunculus, one ‘Rosy Knuckle’ protea, three sprays of ‘Tiny Cheer’ waxflower, two stems of ‘Sunday Pillow’ stock, three stems of ‘Silver Pennies’ eucalyptus and one ‘Long Goodbye’ jasmine vine. About $87 with the wrap: a guide price, not a quote.
A fresh arrangement every week, and the old one gone.
What arrives
One arrangement, or a few for a building, designed for the spot it’s going in.
How often
Weekly or fortnightly, on the same day each time.
What we do
Collect the old one, clean the vase, and bring the new one in. If something tires early, we swap it.
What you do
Keep it out of direct sun and away from the fruit bowl: ripening fruit gives off a gas that ages flowers.
Ask for a price; it depends on the size and how many.
- Spring: ranunculus, waxflower and jasmine
- Summer: sunflowers and cornflowers
- Autumn: dahlias and amaranthus
- Winter: proteas and eucalyptus
Big days, dressed in flowers.
Weddings, engagements, Eid, Diwali, openings, birthdays and long dinners at home.
How we plan
A walk-through of the space, a sketch, and a trial stem or two so you can see the colours in your light.
On the day
We build it in the morning and check every stem before anyone arrives.
After
We take it down and away, and the flowers can go home with your guests in paper wraps.
For Diwali
Marigold garlands for the doorway and bowls of floating heads for the table.
Clip and keep: how to look after your flowers.
Recut a couple of centimetres off each stem, on an angle, with sharp scissors.
Strip any leaves that would sit under the water.
Fresh, cool water every day or two.
A cool spot, away from heaters, direct sun and the fruit bowl.
When one stem fades, pull it out. The rest carry on.
Keep this: it works for every bouquet.
Tell us what you’re celebrating.
Tell us the day, the room and the feeling, and we’ll come back with ideas and a price.