We were pleased to welcome Jenni Baker back to Bedford and  were grateful to her for  filling  in as our original demonstrator  was  unable to come.

Jenni’s theme was ‘The Feminine Touch’;  she produced six designs which represented the life and work of six influential ladies – the presentation was made more interesting as we had to guess the lady involved from the clues Jenni gave.

We started with the bright colours (orange lilies, deep pink mini gerberas and Mario roses) representing the ceramic artist   Clarice Cliff; we then moved on to a white design (avalanche roses, stocks and gypsophila) representing the white garden at Sissinghurst  and the work of Vita Sackville West who was a poet and novelist as well as a garden designer.

Next came Mary Quant (or Barbara Mary Blunkett Green), the Welsh fashion designer with a   parallel design using red carnations, mini gerberas and Anastasia chrysanthemums against a copper wire frame filled with black and red sisal. (One of several complementary accessories produced by Jenni’s husband) Then, a real change  with  yellow gerberas (for daisies) and bluebells representing the countryside and the work of natural scientist and writer Beatrix Potter.

Modern sculpture by Barbara Hepworth was the theme for the fifth design  –  anthuriums  and carnations against a background of phoenix palms and willow structures filled with florist wrap representing sails. The presentation wouldn’t have been complete without the influence of a flower arranger and the last design represented the work of Julia Clements . This lovely arrangement included pink aqua roses, cerinthe,  and chrysanthemums together with a wide variety of foliage  laurel, soft ruscus, euonymus, pussy willow, pittosporum and redwood.

Thank you Jenni for an interesting and entertaining evening  – thank you also for allowing us to share pictures of your lovely designs.