In 1936, the Lahey family home was moved from Canungra to Sir Fred Schonell Drive, St Lucia, for Lahey and her sister Jayne. In the year following her death, Lahey's great friend, sculptor Daphne Mayo, remarked:

'This home, with its bright beds of flowers and close clipped lawns, with a background of huge trees in the gully behind and below the house, gave Vida the double happiness of growing the flowers and fruits for her still life studies before painting them.'

All the flowers in this 'mixed bunch' would have been picked from Lahey's garden. She was particularly fond of the elegant fuchsia and made a special effort to shelter it from the harsh Brisbane climate.