Lindy Whitton Studio

Out for my walk at the weekend I picked a branch of Hakea that was sporting some tiny buds. I liked the geometric pattern against the green leaves. When I got home I plonked it in a bottle of water on the kitchen sink and got on with the 101 things I had to do that day.

While I worked my way through the day’s “to do” list magic occured at the kitchen sink.

Slowly  the brown outer petals ( I know there’s another word but it escapes me at the moment!) opened and a tightly packed lime green ball emerged.

 

 

 

 

…and then the petals dropped one by one to the counter top and the lime ball expanded bursting into a giant sunshine yellow mass of stamens with just a hint of pink on the stems. I was pretty impressed by the speed of change from a tightly closed brown bud to this stunning fluffy ball of sunshine. Little did I know what was to come!

 

 

 

The next morning brought another surprise – overnight the stamens had fully unfurled to delicate slim ‘pins’ with tiny lime tips. The white pins were sticking into a bright red pincushion flower. The transformation was amazing! Where did all that sunshine go? How was it changed to red? As the day progressed the white stems deepened to a blush pink and the bright red took on darker tones.

 

 

Now I have a beautiful vase of Hakeas gracing my kitchen in all stages of development. I’d love to plant a bush or two but first I’m going to do the wildlife test and put the remains out on my lawn ( once the blooming has finished) and see what the wallabies think. Going on previous form Hakea will be viewed as a tasty addition by the chef to the garden buffet!