The pink hawthorn tree from my last post is now just a canopy of green leaves, when I photographed it just over a week ago in flower I also took some photos of roses around my neighbourhood and I thought I would share some of them with you.
What’s flowering in your neighbourhood at the moment?
At the top of the hill there is a roundabout that peels off in several directions past which my street becomes a dead-end. If you walk right down to the bottom you will discover a path that follows a creek bed.
It feels like you are in the countryside, not a city suburb with all the hustle and bustle that entails, and so it is a favourite route when walking with Mr Petal & Pins and Agnes.
At this time of year a pink hawthorn tree adds an extra air of romance to the entrance, the flowers are so pretty they look like bunches of miniature roses and I can’t help but dream of garden fairy dresses when I walk by.
Walking somewhere regularly I think you discover a favorite route that isn’t always about the shortest way but more about the little joys that things along the way can bring.
In primary school I would cut through a vacant block that had wild freesias growing and my sister and I would often stop to pick them.
In high school it was walking past a large overgrown garden with a mysterious old house that you could just glimpse through the corner gates that fed my imagination (helped along with a few urban myths).
Passing that garden nearly everyday for five years felt like a glimpse of ‘otherness’ – how I would have loved to explore it.
These days it is home to the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre thanks to the generous bequest of the original owners and so it feeds the imagination and brings joy in other ways.
On Sunday I am taking petal & pins to the Wild Ones Art & Design Market held at Hazelhurst and a little smile of joy is bound to cross my face at the memory of those days peering in.
I decided to design a collection of festive holly dresses for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe for Christmas and this of course meant planning ahead and gathering the holly in our Southern Hemisphere winter when the berries would be red.
I don’t have a holly tree in my garden but there is one growing on the nature strip further up the hill. When I noticed there was a liberal smattering of red berries I armed myself with secateurs and a bag to gather some sprigs to design with.
My Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe Christmas Collection consists of five holly dress cards with festive red envelopes and inspired by some of the classic fashion capitals of the world, a Christmas greeting in French, English and Italian is on the back. The inside is blank to write your own message. They can also be used to decorate the home, turning a mantelpiece into a garden fairy catwalk or strung on ribbon.
I must say holly is not the most hospitable plant to work with, the points of the leaves are so sharp – it must be a deft bird indeed who feasts on the berries but I think the results are quite stylish don’t you?
AUS$25 a set (includes free shipping worldwide) from my online shop or see my stockists and upcoming markets page.
Wholesale enquiries welcome.
Petal & Pins 