When Fashion and Nature Collide – Flowers July 2018.

This is my July 2018 contribution to our special project: When Fashion and Nature Collide

These flowers and Roda’s critter photos have provided the inspiration for Dominique‘s styling and Lisa’s art this month. Please go and visit their own blogs and see their posts. Collages used here were prepared by Roda. Above cartoon and hats collage by Lisa.

 Fashion Inspiration by 3C Style, Photography of 3C Style by her Hubby, Makeup by Emmanuelle Rochefort, Flower photography by Darren, collage compiled by Roda.

Hyacinthoides aristidis.

This tiny relative of the English bluebell is native to Algeria. It is only a few cm tall in good light in its native North Africa but as it flowers in mid-winter it tends to get drawn up in the poor light of the British winter.

I find it easy to grow in a pot in a cold greenhouse and it s nice to have these flowers from January onwards. The bulbs are dormant in summer and like to be warm and dry.

I bears some resemblance to the Autumn flowering H. lingulata, also from North Africa but with entirely lilac-blue flowers.

Hyacinthoides aristidis

Fashion Inspiration by 3C Style, Photography of 3C Style by Marie-Claude Viola, Makeup by Emmanuelle Rochefort, Flower photography by Darren, Dragonfly art by Lisa, Moraea artwork by Darren, collage compiled by Roda

Moraea gigandra

Moraea gigandra

The largest flowered of the Peacock Moraeas ( gigandra literally meaning ‘big flower’). It is found wild in the Northwestern cape of South Africa and is endangered there. Thankfully it thrives in cultivation in areas with mild winters provided it has a dry summer when the corms are dormant. I find it easier to flower than most of the peacock moraea, possibly because the corms seem less prone to splitting into several smaller corms.

Fashion Inspiration by 3C Style, Photography of 3C Style by Marie-Claude Viola,Makeup by Emmanuelle Rochefort, Flower photography by Darren, Scooter art by Lisa, collage compiled by Roda

Thelymitra nuda – Blue Sun Orchid

Thelymitra nuda or crinita x nuda

Thelymitra tuber dormant in July.

Blue Orchids are rare. This beautiful colour is shared by a few of the Australian Sun Orchids. As the name suggests, the flowers only open on warm sunny days. Here in the UK in recent years we have been lucky to have good weather in April and May when these flower. These are terrestrial orchids, spending the hot summer months as dormant underground tubers before sprouting again in the autumn. They are surprisingly easy to grow in a cool greenhouse here in the UK.

Fashion Inspiration by 3C Style, Photography of 3C Style by Marie-Claude Viola, Makeup by Emmanuelle Rochefort Flower photography by Darren, collage compiled by Roda

Thelymitra Sleeping Beauty

Thelymitra Sleeping Beauty

This Sun Orchid is a hybrid that arose in cultivation. Though smaller than the blue one above it has the outstanding feature of possessing the most amazing scent of roses!

Fashion Inspiration by 3C Style, Photography of 3C Style by Marie-Claude Viola, Makeup by Emmanuelle Rochefort Flower photography by Darren, collage compiled by Roda

Moraea villosa and scarf design

Moraea villosa

I wrote about Moraea villosa in detail last month but Dominique and I have been working on a special project using several Moraea species including this and the M. gigandra above.

We thought these striking flowers would look good printed on a scarf. Time constraints meant that I could not draw new art specifically for a scarf but I was part way through drawing a mixed composition of these species anyway (which may be complete for next month). I only had flowers as of yet, and no foliage, which was ideal for scarf purposes but unfortunately the composition did not work well. So I carefully moved individual flowers around using Paintshop Pro to make a composition that worked. I even drew two extra flowers on separate paper to add to the composition. We hope to show a completed scarf in a future edition! This was SO much fun to do. See Dominique’s post over at 3C Style for more images and information.