55 - Winter 2011/12
Heswall and District Horticultural Society
Whenever I write the opening paragraph of the current Newsletter and mention the weather turning very cold, wet
or windy, you can bet your life that by the time it's printed and given out, the weather has done exactly the
opposite. I've still got the garden fleece and bucket of mulch handy, that I wrote about last time, waiting for the
heavy frosts to arrive. Also my pots of tender plants are still only halfway to the greenhouse, with the weather being
so mild at present. Whoops! Cue the next ice age, now I've said that. Sorry folks.
Judith Clegg
Floral Art
When Judith invited me to "do a little article on flower arranging for the Newsletter" I readily agreed! Shortly
afterwards, however, I was haunted by self doubt and was tempted to phone Judith and say"] 'm not up to this sort
of thing and] wouldn't be able to make it interesting enough H. Then I thought I'd just give it a go and maybe
encourage some of our members to try their hand at some floral art, either for their own use at home or to exhibit at
the Show. If the Editor decided that my journalistic efforts weren't up to scratch that would be fine but at least I'd
have had a bash!
So, how did I get into Floral Art? My love of flowers, gardening and nurturing plants had started at quite a young age
and, thankfully, has never diminished. During my working life one of my hobbies was growing plants from seed to
create colourful bedding schemes, hanging baskets and planters, so when I took early retirement eight years ago and
had more time I started to dabble in flower arranging simply for my own pleasure. Then I thought I would take it a
little more seriously and completed a basic floral art course run by the Northop College of Horticulture, which I
enjoyed immensely. Due to other commitments (U3A, WI, badminton and grandchildren) I decided not to pursue any
further formal qualifications but still wanted to continue my interest in floral design and so I joined the Neston
Flower Society where I've been a member for several years. I attended the monthly professional floral
demonstrations and the weekly classes run by the President, Pat Wood. My "creations" are mainly for my own
pleasure and hopefully for the pleasure of others who have received them as gifts but over the last couple of years I
have been cajoled into running a few basic flower arranging workshops for my WI and last year I gave a floral
demonstration to another local WI all of which were well received.
I discovered early on that floral art usually demands ready access to a variety of foliage. Well, that was a problem
from the start as on the run up to our retirement with lots of holidays planned, my husband and I decided that we
needed to streamline the garden so it would take care of itself in our absence and be easily managed when we were
at home. So we took drastic measures and eliminated borders, dug up overgrown shrubs, gravelled or slated certain
areas and generally cut out any time-consuming fiddly bits! A watering system was installed for the greenhouse and
few baskets and pots I wanted to retain, so we had covered all eventualities. Well yes we had but there wasn't much
left in the way of foliage for a flower arranger!
It's fortunate therefore that my preferences is for minimalist designs that showcase the individual blooms and include
little or indeed no foliage and so, depending on the season, I am able to create from my very limited supply of
foliage. My stalwarts include: hostas, peony leaves, and varieties of ivy, rubus, conifer, pieris, choisya, ferns,
fatsia, solomon's seal, pachysandra, and grape vine leaves. Cut flowers from the garden are limited with just a few
seasonal specimens available i.e. roses, peonies, lilies, sedum, eryngium, liatris and hydrangea, so I rely on the
excellent value, quality and variety of supermarket flowers that are available all year round. If! require something in
particular or exotic then I brace myself and pay florist prices! I've many a time heard it said that flower arranging is
expensive, well it really doesn't have to be and very little in the way of equipment is required to get started i.e.
scissors, wet floral foam and some tape to secure the foam. For containers you can use dishes, saucers, jugs, bowls
etc. in fact anything that will hold a piece of foam and most importantly doesn't leak!
Here are some useful hints
Give your newly purchased flowers a good drink. Initially make a slanting cut between the leaf joints to remove at
least I" of the stems and place in fresh water in a cool place until required.
Floral foam should be placed in a sink or bowl of water and allowed to absorb the water at its own pace.
Keep the design simple and don't be too ambitious.
Use buds as well as open and half-opened flowers.
Try to use different textures of foliage e.g. rough, smooth, dull and shiny.
Use different shaped foliage e.g. rounded, spiky, tall and short.
Don't use bruised, wilting or damaged leaves or stems.
Anyone can be an artist using flowers, it's not confined to the "fairer sex"! Start simple, don't be over ambitious and don't
be afraid to experiment. Floral art brings peace of mind, it gets you close to nature, it's exciting and fulfilling and gives
joy and pleasure to others.
So enjoy, use your imagination and have fun.
Jean Chadwick
Heswall and District Horticultural Society
Whenever I write the opening paragraph of the current Newsletter and mention the weather turning very cold, wet
or windy, you can bet your life that by the time it's printed and given out, the weather has done exactly the
opposite. I've still got the garden fleece and bucket of mulch handy, that I wrote about last time, waiting for the
heavy frosts to arrive. Also my pots of tender plants are still only halfway to the greenhouse, with the weather being
so mild at present. Whoops! Cue the next ice age, now I've said that. Sorry folks.
Judith Clegg
Floral Art
When Judith invited me to "do a little article on flower arranging for the Newsletter" I readily agreed! Shortly
afterwards, however, I was haunted by self doubt and was tempted to phone Judith and say"] 'm not up to this sort
of thing and] wouldn't be able to make it interesting enough H. Then I thought I'd just give it a go and maybe
encourage some of our members to try their hand at some floral art, either for their own use at home or to exhibit at
the Show. If the Editor decided that my journalistic efforts weren't up to scratch that would be fine but at least I'd
have had a bash!
So, how did I get into Floral Art? My love of flowers, gardening and nurturing plants had started at quite a young age
and, thankfully, has never diminished. During my working life one of my hobbies was growing plants from seed to
create colourful bedding schemes, hanging baskets and planters, so when I took early retirement eight years ago and
had more time I started to dabble in flower arranging simply for my own pleasure. Then I thought I would take it a
little more seriously and completed a basic floral art course run by the Northop College of Horticulture, which I
enjoyed immensely. Due to other commitments (U3A, WI, badminton and grandchildren) I decided not to pursue any
further formal qualifications but still wanted to continue my interest in floral design and so I joined the Neston
Flower Society where I've been a member for several years. I attended the monthly professional floral
demonstrations and the weekly classes run by the President, Pat Wood. My "creations" are mainly for my own
pleasure and hopefully for the pleasure of others who have received them as gifts but over the last couple of years I
have been cajoled into running a few basic flower arranging workshops for my WI and last year I gave a floral
demonstration to another local WI all of which were well received.
I discovered early on that floral art usually demands ready access to a variety of foliage. Well, that was a problem
from the start as on the run up to our retirement with lots of holidays planned, my husband and I decided that we
needed to streamline the garden so it would take care of itself in our absence and be easily managed when we were
at home. So we took drastic measures and eliminated borders, dug up overgrown shrubs, gravelled or slated certain
areas and generally cut out any time-consuming fiddly bits! A watering system was installed for the greenhouse and
few baskets and pots I wanted to retain, so we had covered all eventualities. Well yes we had but there wasn't much
left in the way of foliage for a flower arranger!
It's fortunate therefore that my preferences is for minimalist designs that showcase the individual blooms and include
little or indeed no foliage and so, depending on the season, I am able to create from my very limited supply of
foliage. My stalwarts include: hostas, peony leaves, and varieties of ivy, rubus, conifer, pieris, choisya, ferns,
fatsia, solomon's seal, pachysandra, and grape vine leaves. Cut flowers from the garden are limited with just a few
seasonal specimens available i.e. roses, peonies, lilies, sedum, eryngium, liatris and hydrangea, so I rely on the
excellent value, quality and variety of supermarket flowers that are available all year round. If! require something in
particular or exotic then I brace myself and pay florist prices! I've many a time heard it said that flower arranging is
expensive, well it really doesn't have to be and very little in the way of equipment is required to get started i.e.
scissors, wet floral foam and some tape to secure the foam. For containers you can use dishes, saucers, jugs, bowls
etc. in fact anything that will hold a piece of foam and most importantly doesn't leak!
Here are some useful hints
Give your newly purchased flowers a good drink. Initially make a slanting cut between the leaf joints to remove at
least I" of the stems and place in fresh water in a cool place until required.
Floral foam should be placed in a sink or bowl of water and allowed to absorb the water at its own pace.
Keep the design simple and don't be too ambitious.
Use buds as well as open and half-opened flowers.
Try to use different textures of foliage e.g. rough, smooth, dull and shiny.
Use different shaped foliage e.g. rounded, spiky, tall and short.
Don't use bruised, wilting or damaged leaves or stems.
Anyone can be an artist using flowers, it's not confined to the "fairer sex"! Start simple, don't be over ambitious and don't
be afraid to experiment. Floral art brings peace of mind, it gets you close to nature, it's exciting and fulfilling and gives
joy and pleasure to others.
So enjoy, use your imagination and have fun.
Jean Chadwick