Episode: New Zealand? Bay of Plenty
Presenter: Melissa King

It didn?t take long to discover that the owners of this garden have an eye for design because everywhere you look there is attention to colour, texture and form, enhancing the artistic nuances. Every glimpse of the garden is like taking a picture.

The garden is a florist?s haven filled with flowers picked especially for their strong stems and long vase life as well as a plethora of decorative foliage.

Red Hot Pokers (Kniphofia Hybrid cv.) are eye catching both outdoors and in the vase with their striking long stemmed flowers and fiery colours.

If you want a more of a cottage romantic look then it is pretty hard to go past the roses. The long flowering ones such as the Iceberg can be picked through much of the year. You can also look to the flamboyant blousy flowers of viburnum which are the perfect compliment to soft pastel shades.

If you are after great foliage fillers then look no further than Ligularia (Ligularia Hybris cv.) with their dinner plate sized leaves or Hostas in a variety of shades and textures. Try to look beyond flowers and try to appreciate the attributes plants have to offer in every season.

Sue Speirs gives some great tips on creating a spectacular arrangement:

• Make sure you have a combination of flowers, foliage and fillers that balance each other is a good start.
• Sue starts with Sue with some hydrangea leaves as the basis, adding some white hydrangea flowers in the bunch so that they sit in a little triangle effect.
• Then add some white roses that are tucked in at intervals around the bunch, rotating it as you go.
• Add some Cerinthe and Sweet William, Alstromeria and Aspidistra leaves in around the base.
• The textures are really important to combine as well as create an interest of their own.
• Add some red foliage leaves to get a dome shape, just keep adjusting the flowers to get this look.

This is a great way to add colour to your garden and home.

Floribunda
Sue and John Speirs
70 Gargan Road
Tauriko

www.bayofplentynz.com

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