Sometimes winter weather has us longing for an escape to a tropical paradise.

I wish I could take all of our beautiful, loyal customers on a plane that would fly us somewhere balmy, warm and tropical.

But, until I am able to do that, I want to take your thoughts somewhere exotic with these tropical beauties that we have been stocking in our cooler.

Pink Ice Protea

South Africa’s National flower. Protea are a member of one of the oldest flower family on earth, from nearly 300 million years ago. They represent courage, diversity, and transformation. Protea are named after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will.

Birds Nest Banksia

Native to Australia and South Africa and one of over 100 species that belong to the Proteacease family.  The green centre of this interesting flower is soft to the touch and the outer petals have a rick rack hard leaf to them. This makes me think that the leaves were created by nature to protect the flower from local animals. Protea dries very nicely and keeps its colour.

Mokara Orchids

These orchids are man-made and you will not find them growing in the wild like you would with so many other varieties of orchids. They come in a variety of colours from dark purple to pink, yellow, and to the orange gold that we had in the cooler last week. There are multiple flowers on each stem of the mokara, making it a long lasting beauty.

Pincushion Protea

Leucospermum, another of the many varieties of protea that can be found growing naturally in South Africa. The orange stems with yellow tips have an almost fiery feel to them.

Oncidium Orchids

A long-lasting vibrant yellow with touches of burgundy. If you look really closely, the oncidium orchid looks like little yellow angels. You can see the detail of the angel’s skirt all the way up to the wings. With proper care, the oncidium orchid can last up to two weeks as a cut flower.

Which of these tropical beauties are your favourite? Let us know in the comments below!