I love watching the little coloured papery bracts open up to reveal the fluffy flowerhead in the middle of the bloom.
This is one of my favourite shots of the Bracteantha. It shows pretty much all the stages from tight flower bud to open flowerhead.
These masses of little flowers are always yellow, no matter what colour the bracts are.
Once the cone-shaped buds have matured into these brilliant blooms, they will close up overnight and open once again every morning until the flowerhead turns to seed. You can see the white Bracteantha in the middle of the photo above turning to seed. It's about this time that I pick off the flower and sprinkle the seeds in the pot so lots of new little ones will spring up.
I love everything about these daisies ... their wonderful texture, their form and their fabulous colours. These hybrids come in shades of red, pink, yellow, orange and white.
For loads of beautiful flower posts, please visit Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers meme.
What a fantastic array of cultivars! Everlastings are such joyful flowers. The golden ones are spectacular en masse.
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie - gorgeous montage of all the colours. Have not grown these for ages but aside from colour and texture love them for their everlasting quality. Great in dry flower arrangements to brighten the winter
ReplyDeleteLovely to come over to your blog and find straw flowers. I've been meaning to grow these in my own garden, and haven't quite got around to it, yet! Beautiful photos, and you have a wonderful selection too. x
ReplyDeleteThese are really cute flowers, the kind that just make you smile. Your pictures really make their little charms really stand out!
ReplyDeleteLovely to see yours...I didn't plant any this year.
ReplyDeleteWow Bernie, what a wonderful daisy. Such an array of colors surrounding the flower in the center. No wonder it is your favorite daisy. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteFlowerLady
Ive always loved these straw flowers and here they are found only on cool highland resorts where they are cultivated and sold to tourists.Strawberries and these flowers are trademarks of those resorts. I love your mosaics and your new header!
ReplyDeleteI really like the strawflowers as well but haven't grown them in several years... thanks for the reminder... there's always next year! Larry
ReplyDeleteStrawflowers are great for curious children to investigate. The blooms have an incredible texture!
ReplyDeleteI haven't grown these in many years, but you have inspired me to look for them once more.
ReplyDeleteEileen
Marvellous blooms.
ReplyDeleteI haven't grown these in forty years. It's time to start again. We used them in dried bouquets.
ReplyDeleteWow Bernie, you have quite the array of Strawflowers. They are so beautiful. I always forget about growing some until I see them on a posting. I need to write them down. Not that I am forgetful or anything. LOL! Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteAlways admired the paper daisies. In the dry years they did well but with all this rain and wet they all have disappeared. The colours are brilliant. I used to have a dried posy for a long time.
ReplyDeleteBernie - Daisies are such 'sunshine' flowers; these are absolutely lovely! :)
ReplyDeleteThese used to be grown a lot in Ireland and dried for Winter decoration. I had forgotten about them. Have'nt seen them for quite a while. They are a lovely plant.
ReplyDeleteI have never planted everlastings. Your samples are beautiful. I think I need to add these to my "gotta get it" list. Thanks for sharing your garden! ~~Rhonda
ReplyDeleteI had straw flowers last year in the garden. I like them because the withstood the heat. Plus as a bonus, they are unusual and very pretty.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful flowers! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeletewhat wonderful colors! the pale pink and yellow are my favorite.
ReplyDeleteToday's Flowers
I have some paper daisies in my garden too (and a couple on my blog months ago). I love how hardy they are and the long life of the flowers, both on the plant and picked/dried. I've been watching one in particular for over a month now and it hasn't had enough sun to fully open, although it tries every day!
ReplyDeleteI love these cute strawflowers and the colors. Wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteThese are adorable! I love them in every color! And how nice to be able to spread the seeds so easily.
ReplyDeleteWe call them Strawflowers as a common name in these parts. They are not too often offered for sale and certainly not in the colors you have.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for all your comments. It seems I've reminded a lot of people just how wonderful these plants are! The range of colours available now are just wonderful and they self-seed so easily. I do have trouble getting most of them through our wet season though. They definitely like it hot and dry.
ReplyDeleteYou are reminding me that I should have planted some of these this year! Lovely colours!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blooms!
ReplyDeleteMy entry.
Lovely Daisies!! You've inspired me to go look for Daisies next time at the Nursery!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! They do have that wonderful papery
ReplyDeletelook. I grew them one year and dried the flowers, which I still have.
Your Australian daisies are a delight to the eye. Thanks for sharing.
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