Area AGM and Lunch November 5th 2014

A few members went to Broxbourne on November 5th. After the AGM and  an appetising  lunch we were entertained by ‘Take Three’ – Ian Buxton, Lee Berrill and Alan Smith. In addition to their wonderful floral art, there was humour and a real theatrical presentation – they started the demonstration as The Three Wise Men and finished as The Three Degrees!

The arrangements were based on Christmas  including  We Three Kings, Advent, Deck the Halls , I Saw Three Ships, Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland and  Star of Bethlehem.

Each individual arrangement  was beautiful but the variety of  shape, foliage, flowers, containers, Christmas sparkle  and accessories  produced  an absolutely stunning stage display. (I’m afraid we were too engrossed in the demonstration and performance to take detailed notes about each arrangement!)

The audience gave them a well deserved standing ovation at the end of the demonstration.

Just a couple of photographs below give a flavour of the afternoon.

 

Lisa Howarth November 2014

Times of Mellow Fruitfulness

Between the vibrant colours of summer and the rich colours of autumn leaves there is a time when the more subtle and calm colours of blackberry, burgundy, deep red and hints of peach and pink can be enjoyed and it was those colours which Lisa used to very good effect in this demonstration.

Her containers had a rustic theme and the arrangements in them were full of different textures and contrasts.  Red Fountain grass gave soft movement through the first design inside a basket woven from stems of pussy willow. The second arrangement in a beautiful piece of wood had a country look with tricoloured carnations and Avalanche cabbage roses.The third container linked Summer to Autumn with,a split basket filled with layered sun flowers, solidago (golden rod) and hypericum.

An interesting technique was used in the fourth arrangement when Lisa used a wedding bouquet holder covered in hessian in the centre of a wicker sphere. The foliage was off set on top of the sphere and then   burgundy lilies ‘Mambo ,white roses and purple dedrobium orchids were added. The fifth design was an Autumn basket with  the appearance of flowers laid across it.The final arrangement was in a foam sphere with the bottom sliced off it, placed in a large baluster shaped vase. Hydrangeas, roses, calla lilies and dendrobium orchids combined to make this a  beautiful  design.

The evening was educational and informative  and  throughout the demonstration we were given lots of valuable advice and “hints”  which included tips for conditioning and wiring flowers, how to “curve” calla-lilies, and the best way to make leaves shiny.

Thank you Lisa for a very enjoyable evening which  finished with happy raffle winners going home with beautiful arrangements of a manageable size.