TROPICAL PLANTS (Part 1)

King Protea Flower

The king protea flower (Protea cynaroides) has a large tropical flower with pink pointy petals surrounding a white, fuzzy, bulb-like center. Named after Proteus in Greek mythology, this flower symbolizes bravery and metamorphosis.

Urn Plant Bromeliad

Native to Brazil, the urn plant bromeliad (Aechmea fasciata) can be potted or grown in the ground. Its waxy leaves grow in a circle to form a watering cup and, after a few years, it will sprout a tall, vibrant flower.

Air Plant

A type of bromeliad, the air plant doesn’t need to be planted to thrive as the leaves gather moisture from the air. However, when keeping it in your home, soak in water for up to 12 hours.

Pretoria Canna

Growing up to 6 feet (182cm) tall and thriving in the sun, this plant has bright orange flowers. While performing best in humid environments, it is one of the hardiest tropical plants.

African Violet

Originating in Kenya, this versatile plant also grows in the mountains, making it a good option for indoor planting. With deep purple flowers and dark green leaves, it can span up to 2 feet (60cm) across.

Lantana

Native to the American tropics, Lantana (also known as Lantana camara or shrub verbena) has vibrant, multicolored clusters of flowers. Butterflies love these blooms, making them great container plants.

Hibiscus

The hibiscus flower is the national symbol of Haiti. It is very large, with trumpet-like petals and a long stamen, and it blooms in many different colors, from white to pink and red.

Rafflesia Arnoldii

Commonly called the stinking corpse lily due to its smell and shape, this tropical behemoth produces the largest known flower on Earth, which grows up to 3 feet (90cm) across.

Jade Vine

A type of woody vine with claw-like flowers, the jade or emerald vine, is a member of the bean family. It grows up to 60 feet (18 meters) long in the wild, along the streams and ravines of the Philippines.

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Tropical Patches

Transform almost anything with these tropical iron-on patches! MATERIALS Linen Wool felt Chenille 18 needle Embroidery thread Scissors: fabric and embroidery Heat n Bond Iron 1. Transfer the three patterns onto the linen fabric, leaving sufficient space in between each so that they can be individually cut out in step 3. 2. Stitch the patterns following the keys for the white lotus, the banana leaf and the African violet (see Tropical Plants in Flowers Category : White Lotus, Banana Leaf, African Violet ) . 3. Once the stitching is complete, cut around each patch leaving a little less than 1in (2.5cm) of fabric all the way around. 4. Now cut three pieces of wool felt to match the shape of the embroidered linen patches, making them just a little larger to allow for a felt ‘border’ all the way around the edge. Place the felt pieces behind each of the linen patches. 5. Using a single strand of an embroidery thread of your choice, use whipped back s...

C – VARIATED BACK STITCH

This stitch, like satin stitch, is a filler stitch, albeit a less controlled one. 1. Referring to how to work back stitch (see Back Stitch), fill in the designated space with back stitches, keeping the stitches random with no consistency (1).

MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT

THREAD The embroideries have all been stitched with DMC six-strand embroidery floss (stranded cotton), but there are many other thread choices available, as well as yarns, cords and ribbons. Anything is possible, although some options are trickier than others! NEEDLES Your threading medium determines needle choice: e.g., DMC gold embroidery needles (sizes 1, 3, 5) have smaller eyes for single strands of floss, while the DMC chenille needle (size 18) has a larger eye for thicker thread types, such as cord or yarn, or for stitching with all six strands of floss. A chenille needle (size 18) was used to work all the embroideries here. Explore the options but choose a needle that has a pointed tip, rather than a blunt-tip tapestry needle. FABRIC Anything (and everything) can be embroidered onto: from linen to burlap, to silk, to paper. A favorite for modern hand embroidery, and the fabric used in this book, is a linen-look/linen-blend fabric, which can either be a combination of l...

Embroidery flowers

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