FLOWERS

A WHITER SHADE OF PALE

The coming winter is herald by the appearance of the Cyclamen persicum cultivars. Our favourite colour is white flowers which are a perfect foil for the long petioled foliage - rich green leaves with amazing silvery grey patterns and marbling on the top surface of the leaves.

The Cyclamen genus is native to the Mediterranean countries and islands. By the 1600's the native plants were taken to Europe to grow as ornamental plants in royal gardens, particularly in France, Netherlands and Germany.

In the mid-19th century the breeding of the cultivars was seriously undertaken in England and the Netherlands. The result was cultivars with much larger flowers than their Mediterranean cousins.

White flowering Cyclamens in simple greyish terracotta pots will bring a spot of joy to wintery days in traditional or contemporary settings.

TEA

TEA FOR TWO

Brisbane Pod has been on the hunt for the perfect breakfast since the recent visit to the tea house. Lo and behold there was great excitement when T2 caught my eye in a French deli. I spied on the box that it was Sri Lankan - top marks for that in my book.

The charming French proprietor stepped in to inform me that the English Breakfast was excellent. How could I not but take his word for it. After all, the French virtually made tea drinking fashionable during the 17th and 18th centuries. $10.95 for 100g hardly seemed expensive after his recommendation.

Later, in a quiet moment, I found myself studying what was on the back of the box and wondering if it indeed had been such a great buy. Sadly, I was to be disappointed. It was a blended tea and very black in the cold light of day. Then the word "coppery" to describe the colour of the brew sent a warning bell ringing that suggested to me that this was, besides being blended, a low altitude tea.

The quest for an unblended high altitude breakfast tea containing compounds known as theaflavins and thearubigens which offer the same health benefits as those attributed to green tea will continue.

Stay tuned!

FOOD

HIGH SOCIETEA

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to go to Alice in Wonderland's tea party. A vist to the very pretty high societea tea house in Clayfield will truly satisfy your curiosity.

Brisbane Pod has visited high societea tea house in Wayne, New Jersey. It is quaint and Victorian dull. Both tea houses have an identical theme, tea house plus gift shop and prix fixe menu serving delicate, dainty and delicious food.

The tea house experience is one to be enjoyed at a relaxed pace. You wont find any hustle and bustle here. Beginning in both England and America in the late 1880's, the finer hotels began offering tea service in Tea Rooms. It was in these tea rooms that ladies would meet gentlemen for tea and conversation. Many of the tea rooms became cultural enclaves for their patrons.

high societea in Clayfield is definitely the domain of the girls, socialising with their friends, enjoying the pretty and dainty setting and eating just as dainty and delicious food. Oh, I am sure, the gossip is equally delicious!!!!!!

DESIGN

HOMMAGE TO BAROQUE

The majority of architecturally designed new homes in Brisbane are contemporary. Taking a peek inside any one of these contemporary homes, it is not hard to understand that uber-minimal appears to be the only design option for decoration.

The contemporary take on wood furniture is the perfect foil to the static contours of contemporary homes. There is no doubt the big design trend is the retrospective decorative in contemporary furniture design - classic baroque design elements with contemporary finishes and contemporary textiles.

Such pieces of furniture fit beautifully into the large open spaces of contemporary homes and sit comfortably with pieces of polycarbonate Kartell, for example. Baroque touches of extravagance shoud be seen as jewellery for the home and this holds true also for quite masculine interiors.

These jewel-like pieces have "human dimensions" and bring warmth and intimacy to the space, rather than a frigid caven of super-sleek machine-made furniture that many a contemporary interior ends up.

When contemporary architecture and contemporary design with elements of the past are melded the result is a stunning visual delight. You can be sure that this result will not be something that has been spotted in a magazine.

The wonderful armchair seen here references the decorative past in adopting elements of baroque design. The French beechwood armchair becomes ultra stylish with the sage and cream Spanish cotton upholstery. One of a pair, the chairs have been married-up with a Pierro Lissoni chocolate leather and polished stainless 3-seater sofa.

Perfecto!

GARDEN

THE ART OF HARMONY

A Chinese Juniper in a Tokoname sea green Koban pot. The sculptured tree and pot forms a harmonious whole in shape, texture and colour.

The Japanese Bonsai, translates as "tray planting", and more commonly describes the art of emulating nature with trees that have been dwarfed by shaping and root pruning.

Tokoname pottery is a wonderful example of fine garden art. Tokoname has a 900-year history of exceptional pottery making. Generations of potters have worked their craft in this region using the special iron oxide clay which is far superior to other clays.

For bonsai enthusiasts the most prized pots are from these old kilns of Tokoname.

GARDENS

VASES d'ANDUZE

Now that Brisbane gardens have been all but decimated by the long dry spell and with no end in sight, perhaps it is time for us to re-think our approach to our garden.

Instead of mass plantings, charm can be instilled into garden spaces with the use of spectactular garden staturary and pots. Borrowing some ideas from the French, historically some of the best garden designers, is a good place to start.

Brisbane Pod has a special fondness for Anduze pottery which first appeared in southern France in the 16th Century. The design of this handmade pottery which has endured to this day was inspired by the Italian Medicis. The traditional design includes Emblem, Lion, Angel, Fleur de Lys and Croix du Landoc within a garland.

King Louis XVI first used them in his glasshouses at Versailles for his citron and organge trees. For the next two hundred years or so they were to be found only in the gardens of the landed gentry. However, by the early years of the 19th Century wealthy families of local silk merchants in the Anduze region began to plant elaborate gardens and adopted the prized orange tree in their garden design. The Vases d'Anduze were used for the orange trees because they needed to be brought inside during winter to escape the frost.

And, so to this very day, Anduze pottery, faithful to its ancestors, can be found in the gardens of city dwellers the world over. Vases d'Anduze are expensive but as they say: "It's the real thing."

All it takes is a suitable spot in your garden, two 80cm tall Vases d'Anduze, add your favourite trees, cover the ground with some slate pavers, and finally add a Lutyen garden seat that has weathered to a silvery grey. Voila!