Fringe Benefits

Over the past few months my husband and son have been creating magic in our front yard by building raised garden beds and replacing dated framed lattice panels with wooden slats all of which is giving a fresh and modern appearance to the house - and, may I add, some wonderful compliments to the 'carpenters' from our neighbours.  My part in all of this landscaping project is to oil the wooden slats for weather protection and select plants for the garden beds - a job which I have undertaken with much relish.  

I decided to fill the beds with native plants and delighted in the task of visiting the plant nursery to choose suitable plants.  As time goes on and my natives flourish they will form the subject of other posts, but for today I would love to highlight a pretty and delicate flower which, up until I saw it at the plant nursery, didn't realise its quaint size.  It is in fact one of my earliest designs - the Fringe Lily - and I must admit that when I saw it, I just knew I had to buy it (much like a pair of shoes or dress) because it is such a sweet little flower.

There are a cluster of buds on a stem and each flower only blooms once but they don't all bloom at the same time so each new day brings a new and perfect bloom.  It took about a whole week for this particular cluster to complete flowering with about four blooms each day and there are a couple of smaller clusters still yet to flower.  The flower itself is about the size of a thumbnail but what I found absolutely unusual was the pretty frilled fringe around each petal and the gorgeous colour.

My cross stitched design of the Fringe Lily depicts the actual flower perfectly with its markings and colourings and the frilled edge. It contains 9 colours and measures 82 x 73mm (3.2 x 2.9in) in size and there is currently a Fringe Lily card for sale in my Etsy shop on purple cardboard.

I don't seem to recall the flower having a fragrance, but I think we can forgive it for that when it produces such beauty and provides such pleasure.

Ros

'Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.' - Judy Garland