I love life in the Caribbean — sunshine all year round, cosy rainy days (just when you need the rain) and lush, beautiful landscapes all around. And this time of year offers the perfect combination of rain and shine, hence the bounty of tropical flowers in full bloom everywhere. And my favourite type of flowers actually: heliconias, ginger lilies, torch ginger, anthuriums, birds of paradise and shampoo flowers in an array of colourful and exotic shapes and sizes.

These plants offer excellent coverage for fence lines, but the problem is that you NEED to have a fence line — and a lot of it — to enjoy these botanic beauties, so the next best thing is to have them inside your home as lovely arrangements that you can enjoy all day long. And the best part is that these arrangements last quite long… up to two weeks sometimes.

I can be seen every week with my garden scissors, roaming my yard and the yards and streets of those close to me, snipping these gorgeous flowers for my arrangements; but failing that, they’re available in flower shops and sold by merchants on the corner of Seaview Avenue and Lady Musgrave Rd, Lady Musgrave and Hope Rd, Hope Rd and Old Hope Rd and the Manor Park roundabout. The flowers themselves are so beautiful, it’s easy to make beautiful arrangements.

Because they are such tall flowers and make arrangements with great height, start by putting the tallest flower in the centre to build height, and then fill in the remaining flowers by working downward and outward. Ferns and oversized leaves like coco and palm leaves, as well as curly twigs and bamboo, are great fillers for these arrangements. Also, make sure that your vases are tall and heavy enough to bear the height and weight of these substantial flowers. Maintaining balance and scale is the way to create spectacular arrangements.