Garlic Flowers

Garlic flowers were painted from specimens found in Blenheim, New Zealand.

The garlic flower is an umbel at the end of the stem or scape and produces a large number of flowers that turn to bulbils that can be planted out. The cap that contains the flowers dries and splits away from the stem allowing the flowers to burst out and mature. The delicate little caps remain in place perched on the flower head like a comical hat that looks as if it fitted a much smaller head.

The subtle changes of colour across the flower head are an interesting challenge from white through pale greens, pinks and mauve.

The flower head with the dense mass of subtle changing tones took over 250 hours to complete. The artist had to keep in mind the individual detail as well as the form of the overall head.

Grows at Kew in Edible Science: Kew’s Kitchen Garden.

Completed painting size: 69 x109cm

Habit and scapes - natural size, dissection of flowers x 12, flower head x 5

Watercolour on paper