My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Protea

Woody plants with grey green foliage. Large irregular shaped flowers with strong fuzzy layers of bracts surrounding the pin like tepals in the center of the flower

This Protea Composite flower with Palm Butterflies is a Bridal Orb Bouquet, to be carried in the hand like a ball. This design was part of my Fusion Flowers Magazine Designer of the year competition portfolio

Common name

Protea (but each variety also has a common name)

Origin

National flower of South Africa. It is also found in the rest of Africa and Australia and cultivated in Israel and America.

Varieties

The family Proteaceae has more than sixty genera and 1400 species

Colors

Dusty pinky red with white inside, green, white, cream, pink, and red

Vase life

up to a month if you arrange the woody stems in deep clean water.

Scent

Slight honey scented. There are often bee hives closed to fynbos plants and fynbos honey is very distinctive.

Uses

Large strong flower heads that dries very well for permanent arrangements. Because the flowers dry so well I like to deconstruct proteas and reconstruct them in different ways.

Conditioning

Regularly clean the vase and change the water. Allow air to circulate around the Proteas.

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Related Designs
Rock, don't Roll
31 January 2018
Rock, don't Roll

Balance the heavy Protea flower head to lean against a rock.
Rock Rest for a heavy Protea Flower Head
31 January 2018
Rock Rest for a heavy Protea Flower Head

Create a contrasting base to lift the heavy flower-head to design in
Biomimicry
22 March 2017
Biomimicry

A design demonstration and workshop at the Floral Trends Design group in South Africa exploring how we emulate nature’s best biological ideas to solve our modern day design problems.
Biomimicry Demonstration and Workshop at the Floral Trends Design Group, South African Flower Union
22 March 2017
Biomimicry Demonstration and Workshop at the Floral Trends Design Group, South African Flower Union

Looking at how we emulate nature’s best biological ideas to solve our modern day design problems.
Cymbidium Friendship Arrangement in a Papier Mache Container
2 June 2011
Cymbidium Friendship Arrangement in a Papier Mache Container

The Asian Cymbidium is considered a gift of respect and friendship. The florets are also considered symbols of "virtue" and "morality" in many other cultures.
Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
11 April 2011
Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.

Bright and sunny cymbidium orchids and roses, lilies, lisianthus and pincushions
Vanilla
9 April 2011
Vanilla

Vanilla Design for the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa
The last Vine Wreath
20 January 2011
The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an attachment to my vine wreaths. This post features four designs using the same wreaths.
Protea Composite
5 January 2011
Protea Composite

To create this huge Protea I took apart nine Protea flower heads and glued the tepals and bracts back on to a polystyrene ball to create a large Protea composite flower that is similar in shape to an African clay vase used in wedding ceremonies.
Peel a Protea flower
5 January 2011
Peel a Protea flower

Peel away the tepals and bracts from a Protea flower hear to make a large composite flower orb