We were certainly in the festive spirit after Janet had entertained us with her ‘Christmas Creations’ on Tuesday.

Her designs were inspired by  the Christmas pudding, the Christmas tree, the nativity scene,  and an innovative way to use baubles and a hanging basket  in addition to giving  us ideas for table  and general Christmas arrangements.  Traditional green and red colours were used but it was good to see others included such as pink, lilac and orange  together with glitter and spray!

Janet used a wide variety of flowers  including oriental lilies, chrysanthemums, anthuriums, roses, carnations, orchids, amaryllis and gerbera. There was even more variety in foliage – holly, ramnus, begonia, blue spruce, cupressus, eucalyptus, twisted hazel, fatsia, variegated mallow to name just a few.

Thank you Janet for concluding a really instructive, exciting and varied programme of demonstrations this year.

Janet has kindly agreed to us including a couple of photographs.

Twenty members had another very enjoyable and instructive day with Gill on Saturday. We had two very different sessions;  the morning was spent producing a ‘contemporary Christmas screen using the lacing technique with a free standing arrangement’ and in the afternoon we used the caging technique ( and another way to use an aspidistra leave) to produce a Christmas coffee table arrangement.

Thank you Gill and also to Ann G and Penny for organising the day. Just a couple of pictures to give an idea of what was achieved.

We took a quick trip round London Theatreland with Kathy’s ‘All the World’s a Stage’  presentation this month.

Eliza’s (from ‘My Fair Lady’) hat was formed mainly from Black aspidistra leaves and avalanche roses. This was followed by a tropical ‘South Pacific’ arrangement.   Fatsia, manipulated pandanus leaves and plaited palms were the main foliage   together with heliconia , ginger flowers, Singapore orchids and cream anthuriums   I wonder how many of us have tried plaiting the palm holding it between our knees?!!

We had an Egyptian theme next with an arrangement including  raphis palm ,sunflowers, germini and  lotus seed heads together with sparkling twigs and contrasting turquoise baubles. A Hogarth curve design represented ‘Blithe Spirit’ using soft ruscus for the outline and then  enhanced by piccolo white eustoma and pink sweet avalanche roses giving an ethereal effect.

The ‘Sound of Music’ was represented by a parallel design. The foliage, grouped to provide contrast in texture, colour and shape, included fatsia, bergenia, garrya elliptica, variegated conifer and nutmeg bush. The verticals were formed from variegated carnations, Kermit germini and carnations together with aconitum.The final arrangement represented the Globe Theatre using soft palm, Anastasia chrysanthemums, box and anthuriums.

The designs were very varied in colour, design and shape; all equally attractive and they   formed a lovely final stage display. Together with an entertaining and humorous commentary which was also instructive and displayed Kathy’s knowledge and love of floral  art we all had a very enjoyable and inspiring evening. Thank you Kathy.

We were delighted to welcome Sandy Bailey back to Bedford for our Open Evening this year . ‘Verve, energy, liveliness and sparkle ‘ is the Oxford dictionary’s definition of pizzazz and  Sandy certainly   provided us with that with her ‘Floral Pizzazz’ presentation. Her creativity with containers, flower material and staging were inspirational.  The inclusion of music added to the atmosphere of the evening.

The display  at the end of the evening looked stunning with six wonderful but very different designs enhanced by additional and complimentary arrangements that were ‘prepared earlier’.  Sandy has kindly agreed to allow us to share some of the designs – we will let the pictures speak for themselves

Thank you Sandy for a wonderful evening and to everyone else – committee and helpers who contributed to make the evening such a success.

The Society contributed to the Flower Festival at All Saints Church, Queens Park Bedford, over the weekend of October 1^st . They also completed window arrangements  depicting  harvest in Scotland and Wales together with  candlestick arrangements. Many thanks to Sandra, Linda , Lynda  and Jane for their time,  effort and expertise – it was much appreciated by everyone.

We welcomed ‘A Man and his Box of Flowers’ this month  as Doug  Howard  demonstrated and explained his love of flower arranging and how he came to combine this with his ‘day job’ as a barber. We also recognised how he is enjoying his retirement and how his travels and activities are providing inspiration and influence on his designs.

Throughout, it was Doug’s passion for and knowledge of foliage  ( as well as beautiful flowers) that I remember most from the demonstration – I would have been delighted if I had won several of the designs before a single flower was added  (sadly I didn’t!).

A variety of colour and texture was provided within the foliage and he also showed us several techniques of leaf  manipulation. Heuchera, bergenia, fatsia, eunonymous, aspidistra, mahonia, larch, steel grass and several different ferns and palms  are just a few examples of the foliage he used. His arrangements were then enhanced by roses, carnations, gladioli, chrysanthemums, agapanthus, gerberas, lisianthus, calla lillies and dahlias.

There was also variety  in size – from a coffee table  design using just three gerbera to his final arrangement which was a stunning centre piece on the stage.

Doug has kindly agreed that we can share the pictures of his designs.

Now a regular feature of our annual programme, almost two thirds of our membership enjoyed an evening of flowers, friendship and fun.

Flowers and accessories from Sales Table profit  meant everyone could make an arrangement using 5 stems of flowers and midelino sticks. The photos show the variety of designs and the talent we have within the Club.

Friendship: a generous and tasty ‘bring and share’ buffet from the members.

Fun:  a tombola for charity funds and a table quiz to challenge even the most knowledgeable plantsman.

Thank you to the hardworking committee for all the planning and preparation.

We know we have done well when someone says ‘I think we should have two of these a year’!

We were delighted to welcome Clare Allen of Skipp’s Florists this month as she had kindly filled in at short notice when our booked demonstrator was indisposed. Clare  presented ‘Anniversary Jewels’ with all the flowers and containers depicting the wedding anniversary colour

We started  with a grouped arrangement representing Silver wedding using  dried pussy willow, antirrhinums, lisianthus , alstromeria,  stocks, menthol and sweet dolomiti roses.  We moved on to Ruby and Clare talked about having movement through the design. This included palms,  mahonia, beech, cotinus, clove carnations, red germinii and rubena lilies. The arrangement and movement was further enhanced by mechanics of  red wire netting with sequins and voile flower heads.

A beautiful hand blown blue glass dish was the base for the Sapphire arrangement. This included baby blue eucalyptus, brunia foliage and a variety of blue flowers .  Surprisingly,  the  arrangement was enhanced by the final addition of pink phlox and dulcet roses. A useful tip:  hydrangea are so thirsty use an orchid tube!

Next came Golden;  a flat design consisting primarily of lemon and cream flowers   including alstromeria,  stocks and  crème de crème roses. Steel grass was used to ‘cage’ the arrangement. Fifty five years signifies Emerald;   lime green carnations and Bloom Anastasia chrysanthemums  were used together with ferns, baby blue eucalyptus, molucella, dracaena and glittered coral fern.

An eye-catching and glittering container for the finale representing a Diamond wedding. This was a layered arrangement using alstromeria, alchemilla mollis, white campanula, tanacetum,and beautiful Duchess paeonies.

Thank you Clare for sharing your expertise during the evening  whilst producing stunning arrangements.

By the end of the evening everyone was feeling very jealous of what a beautiful garden Daphne must have    – her variety, use, knowledge and love of  mainly home grown plant material was tremendous.

Her demonstration ‘Old Friends and New Faces’  used a variety of containers, all of which had a story attached – some from years ago and others very recent.

We have chosen two of our favourite arrangements . Firstly the horizontal one using pink stripe phormium leaves, ‘antique’roses , bouvardia, bergenia, viburnum tinus and badam pods.  Midollino sticks formed the focus of the next design round which purple carnations and scarlet gerbera were spiralled. This was finished off with choisya sundance, hebe and coca spathes.

The other four arrangements were equally  well planned and executed  with interesting combination of colours  and a wide variety of flowers including irises, agapanthus, caffia lilies, chrysanthemums and tulips.

The stage already looked bright and welcoming with lots of daffodils and Spring flowers when we arrived for our first demonstration of 2016 with Barbara Collins presenting ‘Spring Bouquet’ – a really appropriate title as we met on St David’s Day.
Barbara used both definitions of ‘bouquet’ producing a lovely hand tie as her first arrangement and throughout all the designs used Spring flowers with a beautiful scent. She linked several of the arrangements with Spring events including a basket of flowers for Mother’s Day and a church window design using pussy willow for Easter.
Barbara’s love and knowledge of plant material was apparent throughout and we can name only a few varieties of foliage (much of which was garden material) that was included; griselinia, sennecio, Kew Green skimmia, pittisporum, cornus, bergenia, Xanadu philodendron and willow leaf hebe.
The foliage was complemented by just as many varieties of flowers. Our favourites were Sky Jacket hyacinths, Blueberry roses, multi headed veronica, Flashpoint pink double tulips and freesias.
Barbara’s entertaining presentation was full of humour, information and lots of tips for both novice and experienced flower arrangers all of which made for a well balanced and enjoyable evening for everyone.
By the end of the evening the stage looked stunning – thank you Barbara for a lovely evening.