Orange blossom…..! The name alone conjures up its sweet fragrance, used in perfumery; the sweet orange blossom water, used in French and Middle Eastern cuisine and the long association of this beautiful bloom with weddings and brides.
Orange blossom is the fragrant distillation of the flowers of the Bitter or Seville Orange, C. aurantium (also called subsp mara or bigaradia in the literature), the most aromatic of all citrus varieties. All parts of the sour orange are used in the perfumery industry from the fruit peel (Orange essential oil) and leaves (Petitgrain Oil) to the flowers (Neroli and Orange Blossom Absolute).
The latter differ in their olfactory characteristics and method of extraction. Neroli has a fresher, greener, spicier fragrance with sweet and flowery notes, more like Petitgrain Oil, while that of the Orange Blossom Absolute is sweeter, warmer, deeper and more intense, floral scent like that of Jasmine Oil.
Orange Oil Absolute is obtained by solvent extraction as a concrete and using alcohol washing and filtering in the form of an absolute, while Neroli is obtained by steam distillation of freshly picked flowers.
Orange Oil Absolute is used in perfumes, colognes, chypres, ambers, floral bouquets and heavy orientals. Examples include: Fleurs d’Oranger by Serge Lutens; Jo Malone’s Orange Blossom Cologne; Yardley’s Orange Blossom; and Fleur du Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier.
Neroli is also widely used in the perfumery industry and is the main ingredient in eau-de-cologne, as well as having numerous health benefits, especially with regard to the treatment of depression and infection, and they have been described well in: https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/neroli-essential-oil.html.
The blooms of the Bitter Orange are also used to make Orange Flower Water, used in baklava, meringues and madeleines. You can find a recipe for making Orange Blossom Water at: https://www.thespruceeats.com/make-orange-flower-water-infusion-method-2394974, while the next two sites have great suggestions for its use: https://boisdejasmin.com/2013/07/10-ways-to-use-orange-blossom-water-perfume-beauty-cooking-recipes.html and https://foratasteofpersia.co.uk/2012/04/ten-things-to-do-with-that-bottle-of-orange-blossom-water-at-the-back-of-your-pantry/.
Orange blossom blooms are also candied or used to decorate baked goods. In Morocco, the flowers are steeped in water with mint and green tea leaves to make a sweet-smelling refreshing drink.
However, it is its long association with brides and weddings, which fills most of the literature about orange blossom.
Oranges originated in oriental Asia: China, India and South East Asia. In Ancient China, the snow white blooms represented purity, chastity, virginity and innocence, the flowers placed on the gowns of young brides. The fact that flowers and fruit are often borne simultaneously promoted the association of orange blossoms with fertility and the promise of motherhood, while the evergreen foliage represented everlasting love.
This tradition moved west into India and Persia, now Iran, where the orange got its name from its Arabian name ‘Naranji’.
Oranges were also prominent in Ancient Greek mythology. Gaia, the earth goddess, crowned Hera’s head with a wreath of orange blossom on her marriage to Zeus, while they also play a part in the story of Atlanta. In Ancient Roman mythology, oranges were the golden apple, which Juno, the goddess of women and marriage gave to Jupiter on their celestial wedding day.
The introduction of oranges to Europe is credited to both the Arabs (via Spain and Portugal) and the Crusaders on their return home, depending on which source you read.
However, it was Queen Victoria, who is responsible for really ramping up the use of orange blossoms in European weddings, when she wore them in her hair on her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840. For most of the 19th Century up until its demise in 1950s, orange blossom was in high demand for wedding bouquets, head wreaths, groom’s boutonnieres and on wedding cakes.
Orange blossom represented fertility and luck and increasingly, wealth and status. Being a plant of warmer climates, their blooms were quite expensive in the cooler parts of northern Europe, especially for the lower classes. Their high cost and the fact that they only bloom in Spring, so were often hard to get for weddings at other times of the year, led to the development of an artisanal trade of making wax replicas of the flowers. These were to be destroyed within 30 days of the wedding, the life cycle of the real flowers, to avoid bad luck, hence the extreme rarity of these vintage headpieces and bouquets today.
The growing trend in vintage weddings today has revived the market for both real and wax replica orange blossom flowers for contemporary brides. You can read more about this lovely custom at: http://chicvintagebrides.com/wax-flower-crowns/.
While orange blossoms usually refer to the flowers of Bitter Orange Citrus x aurantium, all the blooms of the Citrus family have a the characteristic form and scent of orange blossoms. The Citrus genus, which belongs to the Rue family, Rutaceae, includes the key species:
C. maxima Pomelo; C. medica Citron; C. micrantha Papeda; and C. reticulata Mandarin Orange and many hybrids including:
C. x sinensis Sweet Orange (probably a cross between C. maxima and C. reticulata);
C. x aurantium Bitter Orange/ Seville Orange/ Sour Orange (C. maxima X C. reticulata);
C. x tangelo Tangelo (C. reticulata X C. maxima);
C. x paradisi Grapefruit (C. maxima X C. x sinensis);
C. x limon Lemon (C. aurantium x C. medica);
C. x aurantifolia Key Lime (C. medica X C. micrantha);
C. x latifolia Tahitian Lime (C. aurantifolia X C. x limon);
C. x citrofortunella Cumquats and C. x tangerine Tangerine.
All the different members of the Citrus genus can be seen at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_citrus_fruits.
There are a number of other plants, which are called Orange Blossom, whose blooms look and smell very similar to Citrus flowers. These include:
Murraya paniculata, commonly known as Orange Jasmine; Orange Jessamine, Mock Orange, Chalcas or Satinwood, is also a member of the Rutaceae family. It is a compact evergreen rounded shrub with shiny dark green oval leaves and clusters of small fragrant white flowers, followed by bright red- orange berries, loved by birds.
It loves full sun and warm climates, but unfortunately NOT heavy frosts, so we cannot grow it here in my garden, but an excellent alternative is another cousin in the Rutaceae family, Choisya ternata, also known as Mexican Orange Blossom, due to the similarity of its blooms in shape and form to orange blossom.
Choisya ternata is also a rounded evergreen shrub with deep green aromatic leaves and clusters of sweetly scented white flowers, mainly in Spring.
Finally, there is my favourite flowering shrub of late Spring and early Summer, Philadelphus, also known as Mock Orange, due to the similarity of its scent, but unlike all the previous plants, this genus belongs to the hydrangea family, Hydrangeaceae.
Most of the sixty species are deciduous, but their flower form is variable, ranging from single to semi-double and double. The most common form is P. coronarius (photo above), but I am growing the single Belle Etoile (https://www.tesselaar.net.au/product/10422-philadelphus-belle-etoile) …
and double P. x virginalis (https://www.gardenlady.com/i-love-philadelphus-x-virginalis-aka-mock-orange/).
I hope you enjoyed this post and it has whet your appetite for more orange blossom in your garden. Next week, I am reviewing an ecletic medley of miscellaneous books from my craft library. In the meantime, Happy Gardening!
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The second section of the book, while smaller, is equally comprehensive, covering yarn selection and knitting needles and aids; casting on methods and basic stitch formation; casting off techniques and selvedges; knitting machines; knitting patterns and charts and following instructions; knitting terminology; tension and gauge; increasing and decreasing; circular knitting; correcting errors; knitting stitches; knitting garments; decorative finishes and embroidery; and a small section on crochet.
Classic Clothes: A Practical Guide to Dressmaking by René Bergh 2000
Once the basic skills have been mastered and a measure of confidence gained, most dressmakers are keen to try their hand at designing their own patterns, so a few books on drafting your own patterns from scratch can be very useful. Back in the day, I was always on the lookout for pattern drafting guides, so I own a few, though I am sure most of them have probably been superseded by the advent of CAD (computer-aided design). Still, the old guides are useful if you prefer designing with pen and paper, lack computer access or are overwhelmed by computer technology!
Because everyone has a different style of learning and every teacher has a different approach and teaching style, I have included two other guides to manual drafting.
Fashions are constantly changing and every dressmaker’s library should have at least one book on the history of fashion!
Another excellent source for vintage patterns is Folkwear (
The same author has also written: 
Our recent walk to Hegarty’s Bay was marred by the dearth of the highly anticipated Spring wildflowers. This month has also been quite cold. So we are only now just starting to experience early Spring.
The early jonquils (Erlicheers, Ziva Paperwhites and white jonquils) and camellias are now over,
and flowering shrubs: Exochorda macrantha ‘The Bride’ and superbly scented Viburnum x burkwoodii ‘Anne Russell’.
We had a wonderful display of our new Dutch Crocus (white Jeanne d’Arc, striped Pickwick and mauve Grand Maître) in the cutting garden,
which has had a makeover in its arrangement with the paths now dividing it into four large squares rather than the original four skinny strips, allowing much more room for the plants to grow and multiply.
We have two shady beds nearest the boundary trees (left side of photo above) and two flower beds in full sun (right side of photo above). The back shady bed is full of feverfew and blue Love-In-The-Mist, Nigella hispanica, both wonderful fillers for bouquets, while the front shady bed contains foxgloves, Nigella orientalis ‘Transformer’, Aquilegia, Dutch Crocus, Hacquetia epipactis, Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis), pansies and heartease, the latter two sustaining us through the Winter with their wonderful colour!
The back sunny bed is chock-a-block with Dutch Iris and poppies, edged with ranunculas,
and the front sunny bed is now coming into its own with the steadfast purple Hoary Stock, Matthiola incana, which provided much needed colour over the Winter, as seen in this vase with Winter Jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum;
anemones, Anemone de Caen….;
and species tulips: Lady Tulips, Tulipa clusiana: the red and white Lady Jane, and yellow chrysantha and ‘Cynthia’ varieties,
as well as the stunning Bokhara Tulip, T. linifolia.
The cutting garden certainly is a mass of colour at the moment and I find it very hard to pick anything!!!!
The Soho and Moon Beds have been weeded, pruned and mulched over the Winter.
It looks like I might have my first Tree Peony this year!
We also transplanted the hybrid musk and rugosa rose hedges, as they were not thriving, due to the heavy root competition and shade provided by our neighbour’s huge old Cottonwood Poplar tree. Fortunately, the latter had a severe haircut by some very talented tree surgeons over the Winter, with the removal of the bough over our Mulberry Tree, so we hope the extra sun will sweeten the fruit considerably this year, provided of course that we get more serious rain as well! We plan to build a glasshouse on the old rugosa site one day in the future.
The rugosas all moved up to line our driveway, while the other roses now grace the sweeping path from the Main Pergola up past the entrance steps (on left of photo), along with new plantings of quince, apricot (second photo) and Prunus subhirtella autumnalis.
We have also planted a golden peach to replace the dead Native Frangipani in the Tea Garden and a fig and a blood orange in the citrus patch behind the Moon Bed.
And we have the first of our new Bearded Iris starting to bloom at the top of the agapanthus bank.
We also planted clematis on both iron rose arches: a blue Clematis macropetala ‘Pauline’ to complement the golden roses Rêve d’Or and Alister Stella Gray at the entrance to the garden; and the fast-growing pink Clematis texensis ‘Princess Diana’ to accompany the creamy Sombreuil and pink Cornelia on the chook fence arch (photo below).
While we still have to develop our chook yard, we have moved the compost bays and planned a garden shed behind the Perennial Bed, where the raspberries have been pruned and tied up and the comfrey, sorrel, angelica (currently in full flower), rhubarb and asparagus are thriving.
The strawberries and blueberries have their own bed, also sown with hollyhock seeds, and there are two more vegetable beds underway.
Up on the terrace, the Treasure Bed has been awash with blue Hyacinth (Delft Blue) and grape hyacinth, interspersed with Tête à Tête daffodils, pale yellow primroses and now, the mauve Pasque Flower, Pulsatilla vulgaris.
We have created a new herb garden close to the house in the old Acanthus Bed, though the latter keep popping up- they are resilient survivors indeed! We have planted Italian and Curly Parsley, lemon thyme and common thyme, Savory of Crete Satureja thymbra, common sage, French tarragon, oregano and calendulas, now in full glorious bloom!.
We have also started to clean up the agapanthus terrace, though it is a huge job, as the steep slope was never terraced properly, so new beds have to be created and supported, as well as eliminating all the old couch grass, before we can plant lavender. Ross also had major waterworks with new pipes being laid and a new tap in the vegie garden, which will make watering so much easier now. The bowerbirds were pretty impressed with the new tap!
Ross can certainly dig a straight trench!!!
And we have been working on the shed, lining the interior ceiling with ply, so now it is clean and dry and usable… not to mention, possum-proof!!!
The shed garden has also been the recipient of much-needed attention and is sporting lavender, primula and euphorbia blooms!
It is so wonderful to be heading into Spring finally here in the Southern Hemisphere! I know I was sustained over the long Winter by blog posts and Instagram photos from the Northern Hemisphere Spring and Summer, so I hope this post has returned the favour! I will probably write another Spring garden post later in the season, when the garden is in full party mode! In the meantime….Happy Gardening wherever you are!
Throughout the book are patterns and instructions for:
However, the majority of the book is devoted to the projects, including materials; method; stitch notes; and finishing:
Chapter One describes the toolkit, while Chapter Two examines the basic processes of:
The Quilter’s Guide To Pictorial Quilts by Maggi McCormick Gordon 2000
She finishes with a gallery of her work and templates for the patterns. I love her simplified and rustic depictions of childhood, domestic and farmyard scenes and her use of earthy colours and natural fabrics.
Butterflies and Blooms: Designs For Appliqué and Quilting by Carol Armstrong 2002
Their name derives from the Greek word ‘Krokos’, meaning ‘saffron’, referring to the long history of the cultivation of Crocus sativum over 2000 years for the production of the spice saffron for a yellow dye, food colourant, culinary spice and medicinal purposes. The large lilac Autumn flowers have darker veins on the petals, yellow stamens and three vivid red stigma, the source of the saffron.
Crocuses (or Croci) are native to Central and Southern Europe; North Africa and the Middle East; the Aegean islands and Central Asia to China. They grow from corms and have narrow mid-green grass-like leaves with a central silver grey stripe and white, lavender, lilac, purple and yellow cup-shaped six-petalled flowers, which have a short stem, long tube, three stamens and one style and only open in the sun or bright light, remaining closed in rainy weather or at night.
The corms should be planted 3 to 4 cm deep in sandy well-drained soils in a sunny position. They look lovely in drifts or clumps and naturalise well in lawns, though the grass should not be cut for 6 weeks after flowering to ensure blooming the following year.
There are a number of different species, many of which can be seen on : 
The cultivated crocus species can be divided into two main groups according to their flowering season.
My first attempt at growing Dutch crocuses in 2016 yielded a single purple flower, about which I was very excited as its appearance was a total surprise! I had planted ten corms (4 Mammoth and 6 Remembrance) the previous Autumn (mid-April) in the lawn under the deciduous trees, but had not been aware of the emergence of the leaves, when suddenly there was this bright purple flower in July!
Luckily, at the end of April this year, I also planted 5 Jeanne d’Arc; 5 Pickwick; and 10 Grand Maître (photo below) corms in the cutting garden in well-noted spots. The foliage of most of them had surfaced by mid-August and they bloomed spectacularly in the first two weeks of September.
Autumn Crocus
The genus name derives from two Greek words: ‘zephyros’ meaning ‘west wind’ and ‘anthos’ meaning ‘flower’, since it is a native of the Western Hemisphere (the Americas) and includes 70 species, some of which can be seen in: 
They prefer cool frost-free and subtropical gardens. Having said that, we grow Zephyranthus candida in the shade of the Pepperina tree, where it retains its foliage all year round. In fact, we sourced our bulbs from my sister’s Tenterfield garden, where she gets heavy frosts and temperatures of ten degrees below zero!
Zephyranthes candida hails from Uruguay and Argentina. It has bright green glossy needle-like leaves and shining white crocus-like flowers with gold stamens.
Sternbergia
We were so impressed with this garden! It is so well planned and so interesting! We started out at the Visitor Centre, where I loved the paths inset with leaves (photo above), then crossed to the 4.5 ha Connections Garden, a fabulous showpiece with great colour (the pink Kangaroo Paw is Anigozanthos Bush Pearl)
and a fascinating journey through the evolution of Australia’s native flora from the Triassic conifers cycads and ferns 250 Million years ago…
and the drying out of the continent over the last 70 000 years. Here are some of the plants in bloom: Snow Wood, Pararchidendron pruinosum; Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha; Scribbly Gum, Eucalyptus haemastoma; and Hakea cristata;
the banksia collection (from the the tall Acorn or Orange Banksia, Banksia prionotes, to the prostrate Creeping Banksia, Banksia repens;
and the amazing stonework. The first photo is Banksia integrifolia Roller Coaster falling over a dry stone wall in the Grevillea section of the Banksia Garden, while I loved the patterns in the rough sandstone slab in the Connections Garden in the second photo. 
The pond and waterfall was a beautiful and refreshing centre piece,
as well as a great learning facility.
And we loved the colourful entrance garden, showing the unlimited potential of Australian native wildflowers, particularly in Winter!
The 360 degree view from the top of the hill was magnificent, if not a little distressing seeing the encroachment of Sydney and the main highway teaming with traffic! The first photo looks east over the Princes Highway to Campbelltown, while the second photo looks north over the garden to Narellan and then Penrith.
The Big Idea Garden had some wonderful suggestions to help reduce, reuse and recycle valuable resources into your garden from developing waterwise gardens (water tanks, drip irrigation and planting waterwise plants) to mulching and composting, correct pruning, turf care and fertilising. Some of the plants included Banksia spinulosa spinulosa Birthday Candles and Sturts Desert Pea, Swainsona formosa.
The Wattle Garden features many of the 950 species of Acacia, many just coming into bloom- such a variety in plant size; leaf shape and flower colour and shape!
Their peak flowering season however is in August! Here are some of the more unusual species: the prostrate Acacia saligna Springtime Cascade; Leafless Rock Wattle, Acacia aphylla; and Acacia cognata Fettuccine;
I love Banksias and other Proteaceae (including Grevilleas, Waratahs and Hakeas), so could easily spend more time in this area. Here are two photos from the Grevillea section: Grevillea pilosa and Diels Grevillea, Grevillea dielsiana; 
But alas, time was still limited and we had to make it up to our accommodation in the Blue Mountains before the school pickup traffic, so we look forward to future visits to explore all those areas we missed – the Callitris Grove; the Kurrajong Arboretum; the Western Garden; the Ironbark woodland; and the Eucalypt Arboreta, as well as the Australian Plant Bank (
In fact, we call in every time we visit the Blue Mountains and there is always something new to see and discover, like our beautiful native banksias, waratahs and Xanthorrhea or the giant Puya from the Chilean Andes in full bloom.
This time, it was the South African native flora: the Proteaceae family, as well as gerberas of warm and cool colour ranges, aloes, geraniums and gazanias, all of which were in full bloom and which totally captivated us! 
The cyclamen under the trees in the Pergola Garden were a visual treat!
There was even one of my favourite Sasanqua camellias, Star-above-Star Camellia, a fitting way to finish this double post of Winter Gardens!
It was established on the site of the old Matson Pleasure Grounds, a recreational complex, which was developed by Frederick Francis Matson in 1902 on the shores of Ewey (now Yowie) Bay and hosted many picnics, dances and boating events until its closure in World War One.
We parked on President Avenue and entered from the top of the gardens, but they can also be accessed via a lower gate and parking area off Kareena Rd. It was a wet day, but fortunately we were able to wander round the garden between showers, even enjoying some welcome Winter sunshine, before retreating to the tea house with the next downpour! The Devonshire tea and scones were an added bonus!
Outside the tea room is a fountain dedicated to Captain Cook’s wife Elizabeth (1742-1835), who is often in the shadows, so it was great to learn a little about her life. She certainly was a stayer! I was amazed to read that she really only spent 4 years of her married life of 17 years with Cook and that she outlasted him by 56 years, dying at the age of 93 on 13 May 1835. She also outlasted all her six children, including two of which died in infancy, with her last surviving son dying in 1794.
But back to the camellias! There are over 600 camellias in the garden with over 450 individual species and cultivars, which can also be seen in the digital catalogue on the Camellias Australia website, as well as in a register kept at Sutherland Library. See: 
If you love camellias and your appetite still needs satisfying, then a visit to the old home of the great man himself is essential!
The one-acre garden is a series of garden rooms, which contain a number of delightful architectural features including a temple, built from six recycled ionic columns, and flanked by two specimens of the camellia, La Pace Rubra, both planted back in 1914 ;
an outdoor study, the professor’s retreat from the hectic bedlam of four boisterous sons;
a walled fountain;
a Georgian-style pigeon house with a gilded tympanum;
a Moon Gate and tennis court;
an oriental Tea House with gold-tipped vermilion flagpoles for blue and red dragon flags;
a meditation garden with a sculptured rock pool and a Georgian-style timber screen.
There are also many beautiful large old camellias, as well as Japanese maples, azaleas and rhododendrons, datura and windflowers.
In between exploring the garden and the old house, we enjoyed a cuppa in the one of the two loggias, originally the boys’ bedrooms. Mrs Waterhouse was a strong believer in the health benefits of bracing cold fresh air!
Eryledene is listed on the National Estate and the NSW Heritage Register and it is worth reading the following website for more detail about the property: 
Next week, we will be visiting two wonderful inspiring native gardens, the Australian Botanic Garden at Mt Annan and the Blue Mountains Garden at Mt Tomah.