John Murdoch and Natasha Atkinson from the Fremantle Markets enjoy the everlasting display. Photo by Jeremy Dixon

When one thinks of a garden it’s usually outside, growing from the ground up.

The Fremantle Markets have turned this idea upside down, literally, by covering ceiling space with an exhibition of everlastings.

Eighty-four-thousand suspended wildflowers transform the yard with pink, white and red covering every centimetre of the 140sqm ceiling space.

The largest exhibition of its kind in WA, Under the Wildflowers was due to open yesterday, Friday September 6, bringing with it an aura of spring.

Beautiful

The flowers were provided by seed supplier Lucinda’s Everlastings: “Together [with the Markets] we had the idea to put the flowers in wooden frames to hang from the ceiling,” says founder Rob Warburton.

“The flowers will sit in a giant planter box and everyone can walk underneath. The flowers are really beautiful…and their colour lasts for months so the display is a really great way to brighten up this yard, and it’s something a bit different.”

Native to WA, everlastings’ papery petals make them ideal for drying and flowers have been known to last for years. The Markets display should last months at least without any loss of vibrancy.

The flowers in the Fremantle display were picked from a wheat and sheep farm in Kojonup, about 250km south-east of Perth.

“It took six people six days to pick all 2100 bunches of flowers by hand,” Mr Warburton says.

“A lot of work has gone into this. Everlastings are prolific to WA, and they are so colourful and adaptable they are the perfect flower for this type of exhibition.”

The exhibition will be celebrated with ‘A Night Under the Wildflowers’, a dinner event in October where guests can enjoy food and wine underneath the flowers. Seeds can now be bought from the Markets.

by SOPHIE MITCHELL