Summer Symphony

The consensus at the end of the evening was that we hope it’s not another seven years before you come to BFAS again Alan!  A most entertaining, interesting and instructive meeting.

The dictionary definition of ‘symphony’ is  – ‘anything characterised by a harmonious combination of elements especially an effective combination of colour’  and that sums up Alan’s demonstration perfectly.  

This month we have listed separately the flowers and foliage for each design just to emphasise that it is the addition of the designer’s talent, flair and experience in putting them together that makes all the difference.

Design 1

Foliage- hosta, fatsia and bergenia leaves, small leafed laurel, variegated pittosporum.

 Flowers -pink clematis,  lilac  lisianthus, purple stocks, pink gerbera.

Design 2  based on a Dutch parallel design using vertical and horizontal lines of colour

 Foliage -beech, variegated hosta and bergenia leaves, acuba,  cupressus

 Flowers- blue delphiniums, mauve  alliums, mini yellow gerberas

Design 3

Foliage -phormium, hellebore and bergenia,leaves, skimmia, euronymous, acuba,  choisya sundance,

Flowers-red gerberas,

Design 4 A Study in Orange 

Foliage-privet, ferns, hosta leaves, box,

Flowers -orange carnations, mini orange gerberas, salmon coloured lilies

Design 5 Butterfly Tree

Foliage–periwinkle, variegated jasmine, hosta leaves, ferns,

Flowers-white roses, white lilies.

Silver butterflies

Design 6 

Foliage-beech, hosta, crocosmia and bergenia leaves, ferns, fatsias

Flowers-fuchsias, cerise carnations, Solomon’s seal, cardoons, red peonies, green Anastasia chrysanthemums, cerise pink stocks, lilac hydrangeas, pink phalaenopsis orchid

If you were inspired by Alan’s demonstration why not try to join our next workshop in October -they say practice makes perfect!

The photographs below indicate a really enjoyable and successful day was had by all. Thanks to Ann G for organising the workshop.

The weather was iffy, but the company was good and it was generally agreed to be a lovely day out.

With limited time we made straight for the House on our arrival. There were many beautiful and inspiring  floral arrangements in the rooms and corridors with both traditional and contemporary designs on display; plenty of wonderful photo opportunities.

After a quick bite to eat it was time to queue for the demonstration. It was good to swap notes with members from other flower clubs as we waited.

Jonathan’s demonstration was first class.  An innovative and talented designer, Jonathan kept our attention for the whole 75 minutes and his passion for his work was obvious. He worked quickly, deftly and with precision, yet was able still to talk eloquently about Chatsworth’s history, the preparations for Florabundance, the gardens, his designs, the plants he used and give us  a few tips too.   The end result was super -the stage looked stunning at the end of the presentation.

There were six arrangements for raffle prizes and two of them were won by people from our party! Off stage the arrangements looked wonderful of course, but BIG.  We had the benefit of a 49 seater coach  so the arrangements could have a seat each ( there were only 23 of us), but  we had to remove some of the taller stems  in order to get them home safely.  See picture below.

We managed by the skin of our teeth to get enough support to make this outing possible so  thank you very, very  much to all those members and friends who came.

Members took part in the Lonely Bouquet initiative on National Flower Arranging Day.  We know of bouquets left on post boxes, cars and  at supermarkets. Where did you leave yours?

It was a very different meeting this month entitled ‘Fun, Friendship and Flowers’. The aim was to  encourage as many members as possible to take part.

Almost fifty members participated in a ‘hands on’ practical session. The completed arrangements were so varied that it was difficult to realise that everyone had been provided with the same container, midelino sticks, five flowers and some broad leaf foliage. These were supplemented with up to three items of the members’ own choice – twisted willow, extra foliage or flowers, aluminium wire, sisal and butterflies to name a few! The colourful and attractive designs on the stage at the end of the evening really showcased the expertise and talent within the club.

There was also the opportunity to watch demonstrations by members Sheila and Hazel. They produced a pedestal arrangement and church windowsill design using a wide variety of flowers and  foliage (mostly from their own gardens) as well as providing lots of practical tips along the way.

There was also social time to enjoy refreshments and a chat and the committee are grateful for the effort taken to complete a questionnaire; the results of which will inform us as we plan for the development and future of the society.

Thank you to everyone who showed enthusiasm during the evening and to those who worked hard   to organise the event.

A few photos below  give a flavour of the evening.

We welcomed Joyce to BFAS on April 1^st .  The foliage, almost all from her own garden, provided a wonderful variety of colour and texture as background to the designs in   her  Pic ‘n ’Mix demonstration. I’m sure many of us were inspired to be more adventurous with the foliage we grow and use.

The first arrangement was in a picnic basket. The foliage in this design was from her garden and included   cupressa, sundance choisya, juniper and cristata ‘The King’. The flowers were   peach carnations, spray chrysanthemums picking up the colour of the basket , mini gerberas and roses.  The smaller accompanying design had us reminiscing about pic ‘n’ mix sweets which Joyce had kindly placed at the base for our enjoyment.

The next three arrangements were bold statement containers:  two metal structures and a snake basket. Green balls and black bamboo were used to enhance the metal containers. The  focus of the second arrangement was longiflorum lilies and palms with green carnations, conifer and senecio. The third design was a vibrant arrangement of pink gerberas and anthuriums.  The shape of the design was further enhanced by trimmed trachy palm leaves, variegated box and hypericum with phormium leaves   providing height. Eucalyptus bark gave an interesting texture to the design in the snake basket  together with  contorted willow, phormium  and nadina  domestica. Spray carnations and  orchids were stunning against this foliage.

A parallel arrangement between two pieces of   stylised ladder sculptured wood used Cotoneaster and  dracaena leaves with aliums, tulips and red anthuriums. Paddy’s Pride formed the basis of the final design with stems of cornus   providing  height.The green and white design used green carnations, avalanche roses, Anastasia chrysanthemums, green anthuriums and gypsophila. This arrangement was displayed within a wooden framework which Joyce acknowledged was the handiwork of her husband.

‘Fun with Flowers’ was a phrase Joyce used on several occasions and her enjoyment in floral  art  was reflected throughout her demonstration.

A few photographs  are below with apologies that I forgot to remove the (wrong) date from the pictures.

Daphne introduced herself as a glassaholic and the wonderful array of containers she used in her ‘Georgeous Glass demonstration certainly confirmed her love of the material. The vases in varying shapes, sizes, colour and origin were a small part of her ever growing collection.

Her first arrangement was in a beautiful turquoise blue container with frilled edges. Eucalyptus, euonymus, epimedium and pussy willow formed a wonderful background for this white design using tulips, anemones, giant chincherinchee and alstromeria.

The second design, a Hogarth curve, in a beautiful dusky pink candlestick style container was vibrant in colour using cerise carnations, eustoma ,pink gerbera, pink roses and wax flower with viburnum tinus, arbutus  and Berry Marmalade heuchera foliage.  The third design, a long, low arrangement in Daphne’s ‘flying saucer’ container was designed as an all-round arrangement using ‘Cream Wave’ phormiums, yellow roses and tulips. The smooth leaves of the acuba and the wrinkled pittisporum  gave contrast of texture.

The next container reminded us of the peeling layers of an onion and included curled, plain and cream striped aspidistra leaves, choisya, and fatsia as foliage. Leucadendron formed the central point of the design with greenish carnations spiralling around it. Anastasia chrysanthemums completed the arrangement.

The red stems of prunus luctanica (Portuguese bay), together with cotoneaster, arbutus and fatsia formed the basis of the fifth design which was in a black and white vase similar in shape to a Yard of Ale glass. Red leucadendron, scarlet carnations, spray roses, red parrot tulips and scarlet gerberas completed a stunning arrangement.

An L shaped design was the final arrangement which picked up the pink tints in the glass container. ‘Red Devil’ phormium leaves (with rolled ends), skimmia and bergenia leaves provided the foil for pink lisianthus, roses(with a hint of pink), mini pink gerberas, mini amaryllis and pink anthuriums to add a touch of drama.

Daphne provided us with a most enjoyable evening producing six lovely designs – all equally desirable as raffle prizes.  Each design was a different shape and colour combination and included a variety of foliage which most of us have in the garden –  and all enhanced by her Georgeous Glass containers.

An outing not centred around flowers was a bit of a departure for us, but our trip to Birmingham Christmas market went very well. Special thanks to Rosemary who rallied her friends’ support to make the trip viable. You know, flower club people are such nice people.

Surprisingly, the market was not easy to find , but I have sent a message to say that as non-locals we would have appreciated more way-finding information.

On the whole the stall holders were friendly and helpful, and I think the market was representative of the flavour of the markets in Germany. It is true that there were several stalls of the same type, but the same often applies to any British market. As a group we enjoyed the delights of German mulled wine (Gluhwein), grilled sausages, pretzels, gingerbread, crepes and chocolate covered marshmallows. There were hand made wooden toys, Christmas decorations and jewellery for sale as well as a number of other different craft stalls. With music to listen to and street entertainers to watch, the time passed very quickly and it was late in the day before we realised our feet were aching.

A good day out.

PS. To make you smile –

Sheila asked one of the stall holders whether they sold a particular type of German rum and was told they only had French wines!!

A few photographs give an indication of the atmosphere  (with thanks to Ikuyo for her contribution)

Thank you and well done to Lyn J and Doreen W  for entering a BFAS tree in the Christmas Tree Festival at St Pauls.

The lights inside the church from the sixty- one trees made it very difficult to take photographs which do justice to our tree but just a couple are included.

A Christmas feel welcomed members and friends to our final meeting of 2013. Thank you to everyone who provided and bought items  at  the plant stall (with holly, evergreens, pine and wreaths) and the Christmas parcels stall. Both of these raised additional money for our charity Leukaemia Research Bedford Branch. The sales table again was attractive and well stocked with a wide variety of general and seasonal items

We were pleased to welcome one of our own members, Julie Woods, with her demonstration ‘Let the Festivities Begin’. The six arrangements were very different in colour, shape and design but all were enhanced by the inclusion of a wide variety of foliage and by the use of Christmas glitter, baubles  and  decorations.

The first design included aspidistra leaves, arbutus, variegated hedera and loops of bound steel grass as a background for ornithigolam flowers and lime centred  gerberinas.  A beautiful arrangement on a posy pad.

 Red carnations, merlot spray chrysanthemums and poinsettia  provided the colour for The Santa arrangement which also used birch twigs, elaeagnus, holly and yew, with bergenia leaves providing a quiet area for the eyes to rest. Santa was given a cracker as were several members of the audience who shared the jokes with us. The next design, for a table centre, used virburnum bodnantense, rubus tricolor, bay, holly and fern. The colours of the spray roses, Singapore orchids and lilies complemented the glass container filled with baubles and  beads.       

The next design had us looking forward to planning holidays in warmer climes but also reminded us of the spices we use over the festive season. Julie used a wonderful structure of her own design, which was decorated with apples, oranges, peppers and cinnamon to display pincushion proteas, spray roses  and celosia with palm,  gilded fatsia, choisya and monstera foliage. Carols and Nativity were the inspiration for the fifth arrangement in two baskets linked by woven phormium leaves.  Amongst the foliage of cycas leaves, spindleberry, fatsia and euonymous, the beautifully coloured Gabriel anthuriums, large speciality chrysanthemums and cymbidium provided a  wonderful contrast to the previous design.

The final arrangement used an aluminium trough container decorated with cones, reminding us of winter Christmas scenes. The varied and colourful foliage included rhamnus, curly leaved hedera, variegated viburnum tinus, contorted willow and arum itallcum.  Together with snowy (cotton wool) twigs and silver leaves, it was a lovely display even before Julie added avalanche roses, brassica, longiflorum lilies and gypsophila.

 Julie completed the final touches to her  stunning  stage display as Aled Jones sang Walking in the Air. An inspiring evening  ensured everyone left the meeting feeling  ready for the preparations and the celebrations ahead.