Our front garden is filled with little golden orbs of wattle right now. The perfume is divine and really announces that spring has arrived in Australia. Aside from the eucalyptus tree, wattle is probably the best recognised Australian native plant and we love using it to decorate casual gatherings such as barbeques, informal weddings and even aisles.

If you’re using it on a dinner or reception table, decorating with wattle is a little messy as the yellow pollen invariably ends up all over your table, crockery and glassware, so we recommend that wattle be kept in the centre of the table away from food and plates!

This simple wattle and macadamia nut table centrepiece was a breeze to put together and is the perfect casual spring centrepiece for an Australian barbecue. A long walnut coloured timber serving plate was used as the base, small clear votive candles are lined across the centre of the plate embedded in a mixture of polished natural river stones and macadamia nuts. Long strands of wattle in the brightest yellow and silvery green are laid down either side to create a long casual table decoration that perfumes without overpowering your meal.

You can also find enormous branches of blossoming wattle which can be used in tall vases in place of cherry blossoms, for an Australian twist on a dramatic table centrepiece. Our front yard must have armfuls of them today. I must get out there tomorrow and get decorating!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn