{the hort couture gardener}

{the 'Sow's ear to silk purse' garage project}

I spent a whole day during the week cleaning and organising my shed/garage into a more usable and workable space. Years of collected dust and spiderwebs made it a less than appealing space to want to work in let alone feel creative in. I have high hopes though for my little fibro shed after evicting the spiders that had taken to squatting in it and filling the dustbin with enough dust to make the Sahara jealous.

I have great intentions of turning my 'Ugly Duckling Shed' into something a little more pretty and inviting, but have you ever heard the saying, "You can't make a silk purse out of a Sow's ear"? Something makes me think I might be over estimating my abilities with this little project. I'll be doing well if I can just keep it tidy for more than a day, especially after coming home from a job with another boot full of plastic pots I refuse to throw away to landfill...

I'm a little bit too embarrassed to show the 'Before' images just yet so will just share what I would like it to look like 'After'!

Organised and lovely potting area

via: Simply Fabulous Garage

Loving the red floor and timber work bench!

Via: California Closets

Love the stable door! One of these has been on my wish list for ages. And always a fan of the Butler's sink!

Image: Dana Gallagher for Country Living

Loving the organisation, the tools and those YeLLoW!! gumboots!!

Image: Dana Gallagher for Country Living

Perhaps a little more within my budget and capabilities

Image: Andrew McCaul for Good Housekeeping

Swoon worthy florist area!

Via: Sweetpea's, Toronto

With an exterior like this who wouldn't want to go inside?

via: Tiny House Design

So that's my little wish/dream list, I'll keep you posted on my progress!

{out in my garden}

When my spirits get a little low I resort to my garden and find solace in the little universe that exists within it. I love that I'm finally beginning to make it mine after two years. Unlike designing a client's garden with very clear and defined objectives set out in a plan I'm taking a more organic approach. I know how I want it to look and feel but I'm allowing the process to occur freely and without restriction.

What I started with...

Vegie patches in - pardon the sugar cane straw everywhere
my little four legged assistant loves it!

Our front yard has gone from a patch of lawn to the beginning of what will be a mixture of productive and ornamental gardens filled with an assortment of edible plants and flowers, as well as those which attract the birds and bees, and ones whose flowers I can pick for the house.

A small patch of lawn will remain with an arc of lawn surrounding it. There will be little delineation between what is ornamental and what is productive. I've just placed an order for a Punica granatum 'Wonderful' (Pomegranate) and my Malus ioensis Bechtel Crabapple is about to come into bud - will be definitely taking photos when that happens! Pebble paths will soon be constructed between the beds with creeping herbs to spill over the paths. I'm also on a mad search for a bird bath like these, but a little more in my price range perhaps!

My inspiration comes from this garden. I have long admired this beautiful garden designed by Hendrik Van Leeuwen (it's actually his own personal garden). Early days yet for me, but stay tuned!

Neighbour's bamboo encroaching on our
garden is put to good use as stakes!

A fresh crop of swiss chard

We've been harvesting bag fulls of lettuce and baby spinach for weeks and passing it on to anyone who steps foot in the gate. And the Bok Choy went a bit ballistic but I adored the yellow flowers so much, as did the hover-flies and bees!

My busy little hover-flies and bees hard at work!

The peas have been super sweet and crunchy, I love just walking past and snapping off a few for a quick snack whilst working out in the yard.

The broccoli has been delicious, tender and tasty. We're hoping we'll get further crops, small little shoots are appearing beneath the harvest point, fingers crossed!

I'm a big fan of beneficial insects in my garden - they are welcome anytime! I was delighted to see the little ladybird in the below photo taking good care of my Pansies! And if you look closely enough to you can see all the pollen collected by the busy bee amongst the lavender!

Today is our first really hot Spring day - 32 degrees as I type this... I hope it can all hang on over the hot summer months to come. I'm not a fan of summer with its scorching hot days and dry westerly winds. I've primed myself however with new hoses and a mountain of mulch - wish me luck!

Photos: {hort couture}

{hort couture v. haute couture: floriography}

"Like no other deparment store..."

I can't believe I've been sitting on this post all this time and haven't posted it. It is much to special not to share!

The first week of spring brings with it the most gorgeous event to hit shop windows in Sydney (well apart from the adorable Christmas decorations - that probably aren't too far away). For two weeks in September David Jones brings their ground floor Ladies department store and windows to life with the most amazing floral displays - very hort couture!!

This year's theme was: Floriography ~ the language of flowers. Which reminds me of this earlier post. I love that flowers have meaning beyond their visual appeal, that you can express feelings and words through something so beautifully tangible.

For anyone visiting the city during this time they must think we have the most glamorous place to shop!

Yellow you are the loveliest!

Perfection!

This year's display was particularly special I thought as it was a riot of yellow and golden hues. I simply couldn't resist being snap happy - so be warned there are more than a few photos!

Window 1: YeLLoW!! Simple & stunning: singapore orchids (my favourite window - who would've guessed?!)

Window 2: A little less yellow, but still beautiful! roses and baby's tears in glass cloches

Window 3: Soft & pretty: orchids, baby's tears, carnations, arum lilies (& my gorgeous friend in silouhette!)

Window 4: Spring!! A rainbow of colour: roses, stock, tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, anemones carnations and singapore orchids

Window 5: A little bit dark, a little bit moody and spooky: everlasting daisy, burnt banksia seed pods and white cymbidium orchids.

Window 6: On the dry and prickly: banksia, orchids, agaves, cacti, succulents (assorted) and aeonium

I highly recommend you put it in your calendar to see it for yourself next year (if you didn't get to see it this year)!

Photos: {hort couture}

{Styling it up for Sumo Salad - Part II}

So after potting up more than just a few Sumo Salad pails with assorted lettuce and swiss chard, {hort couture} was engaged to style a sit-down lunch for Sumo Salad's summer menu media launch!

The event was held in the Rose Garden Pavilion set within the grounds of Sydney's beautiful Botanic Gardens. Really this location could have had nothing done to it and it would still have been stunning. The roses are just coming into bloom and the spring flower bed displays were a riot of colour and activity with bees and butterflies buzzing around just as busily as I was!

Being the 'Healthiest Fast Food Franchise' the brief from the client was to keep within the theme of fresh and healthy. So of course this called for the use of beautiful fresh produce such as the gorgeous ruby red stems of rhubarb, scarlet skinned pomegranates with their luscious juicy-pop seeds, fire-engine red truss tomatoes, and the architectural form of artichokes.

The setting was to be clean and crisp with a touch of picnic. I was also very keen to incorporate the branding colours of Sumo Salad - green and orange - so I used a vast array of striking green foliage, bright green Granny Smith apples and limes, along with adorable Dutch Carrots and mini pumpkins.

This was such fun day and the food was amazing (yes, even the hired help got to taste test the new menu! Yum!). Although a little stressed about the inclement weather leading up to, and in the morning, we were blessed by the Weather Gods with the sun shining down on us providing us with the most amazing afternoon.

.. The End

Photos: {hort couture} & Belinda Roland Photography

{Styling it up for Sumo Salad - Part I}

Super excited to be working with Sumo Salad on their Summer Menu Media Campaign!

Potted up Sumo Salad pails - you couldn't get a more fresh salad!

The campaign started out with invitations attached to salad pails planted out with an assortment of lettuce and swiss chard.

'The Healthiest Fast Food Franchise' goes green!

Loving the form, texture and colours

Never was planting lettuce seedlings so difficult as in these little salad pails - no dirty finger prints!! and of course there were definitely test runs completed to ensure no leakage occurred. I had nightmares the night before delivery of waking to find a pile of cardboard slush and mud. But of course my little Garden Guardian Angel was looking after me and they all looked perfect!

Lots of lettuce!!

Then the tricky bit of transporting this precious cargo - I'm definitely investing in a 'Baby on Board' car sticker and replacing 'Baby' with 'PLANTS'. Cornering was definitely taken very slowly as were speed humps - apologies if you were travelling behind me!

With stage one of the campaign completed the next exciting phase began - styling the luncheon for the invited guests! ... to be continued!

Photos: {hort couture}

{can a business have multiple personality disorder? I think mine does...}

Me when I'm at my happiest - surrounded by plants
(this just happens to be heaven - Royal Botanic Gardens Hobart

I have been a bit absent of late - apologies for that. Work has had me crazy busy over the last few weeks (insert Facebook 'Like' button here!) However, it has kept me from updating my blog about the exciting projectS I've been working on. When I say projectS I emphasise the S on the end as I've been busy in the kitchen baking more than one kind of pie lately (sadly for my husband this is an analogy only...)!

So what has kept me so busy? Well apart from the usual of getting dirty in the garden (mine and my wonderful client's) I've been busy prototyping a few products I'm going to ~~hopefully~~ get off to market in the coming weeks and working on a very exciting campaign for a food retail client.

I've loved the eclectic nature of my work over the last few weeks so much so that I think that's what I want to be doing, however it has left me a bit perplexed when asked that age old question last week, "So what do you do?" My usual response would be, "I'm a Horticulturist" but now I find myself not wanting to respond only with this title. I feel I want to be, and am, more than just a Horticulturist.

I'm not your typical Horticulturist, Garden Designer or Florist. I've never wanted to be a 'typical' anything. Being pigeon-holed into one particular career is what I've been working against my whole working life. When boxed into one title only I feel like a bird with its wings clipped, all my creative freedom has been robbed from me and I feel stifled.

I find myself at a very exciting point in my life and career. I'm submersing myself into a number of things I love to do (just what life should be). Talking about plants, gardens and flowers is my mother-tongue, it's as if I was born speaking this language. But, typical of me I don't want to just be called a "Horticulturist" or a "Florist", I don't like titles. I find them restrictive and I don't want to be recognised by another name other than my own.

So for now I'm just me doing what I love - talking and working with flowers, plants and gardens in all their guises. I'll just have to work out how best to answer the question, "so what do you do" as best as I can in under 10 minutes.

PS. I'm also working on updating my website to include all the "pies" I'm working on. Bear with me as technology is definitely not my second language!

{getting creative with cos!}

I've been a bit absent of late - blame it on lettuce! Yep lettuce, and assorted salad leaves, of all kinds and persuasions: cos, butter, iceberg (really doesn't deserve it's bad reputation!), radicchio, rocket etc etc...

I'm super excited about a little project I'm working on with a prominent healthy 'fast-food' retailer at the moment. I'm getting all creative with using salad leaves in other ways than drowning them in dressing. I'll be able to reveal more in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Image: via the kitchn

{flowers & the city - a New York sidewalk}

If only all city sidewalks were this pretty... If there were gardens like these dotted about I really do believe people working in the city would be a lot happier. I remember too well how bland, dreary and grey the city looked while wandering about on my lunch break, and how happy I would be when I'd stumble across a florist stand or a burst of colour like this time.

I'm off into the CBD today for a client visit (very exciting - a balcony garden in the middle of Darlinghurst!) and to take a look at the beautiful window displays of David Jones' annual Spring Flower Show - photos tomorrow I promise!

Image: Tony Bielaczyc @ Martha Stewart