Party Posies

For fab party flowers, successful needn’t mean stressful.

Pretty floral arrangements can be the cherry on the cake for a celebratory gathering, yet pulling. them together can leave you frazzled.

The trick is to relax, says H&G’s interiors editor Kate Nixon. “You don’t have to be formal in your approach and you don’t have to play it safe.”

Case in point are the delightful arrangements she put together after a dash around several of Sydney’s best florists. Sweetly scented David Austin roses and sprawling wild roses from Grandiflora are teamed with showy dahlias from Poho Flowers; eucalyptus foliage and sculptural banksia from Mandalay Flowers give the arrangements structure. The look is rangey yet balanced: softly feminine rose petals contrast with blowsy dahlias and the more masculine forms of banksia and eucalypt, all in a restrained, tonal and cohesive palette.