Flowers and leaves in lace

Last year, when I was designing my response to the Battle of Britain lace panel, I made a study of all the different leaves and flowers Harry Cross had used in his original panel. However, whereas Harry Cross had used them in borders to separate the images of the bombed areas of London and as adjuncts to the various air force badges, I decided to include them in my central panel. After much thought, I decided that the central panel would have a sweep of flowers and leaves going upwards, which would be contrasted with lines of aircraft sweeping downwards, above the image of St Pauls Cathedral. I started my upward sweep with the protea of South Africa, followed by acorns and wheat ears. I had originally thought the wheat ears looked like barley but on doing some research discovered that there are various types of wheat, including one with long whiskers! After them came the thistle for Scotland, shamrock leaves for Ireland, maple leaves for Canada, the rose for England, and daffodils for Wales. After the daffodils, the line of plants diverges to give the silver fern of New Zealand on one side and the wattle of Australia on the other. Just above the wattle is my addition to the panel – two poppies, which were not on the original but which I have added for remembrance.