David Jones Flower Show

The David Jones Flower Show has marked the beginning of spring in Sydney for as long as I can remember.

For the first two weeks of September the ground floor of our classiest department store is dressed with magnificent floral arrangements, kept fresh by an army of florists working behind the scenes once the shop closes its doors.

This year the theme is "An Australian Perspective" and our native flowers and shrubs share the limelight, sometimes arranged in rather extraordinary displays - just spectacular!

With much of Australia in drought, these dry-climate plants seem to be gaining in popularity.

[I wonder, is it 'un-Australian' to admit that while David Jones looks fabulous dressed to the nines with leucodendrons, bottlebrush, waratahs and gum leaves, I do prefer traditional English garden plants and flowers in my garden?]