It was damp and dreary outside, but Yvonne brought some sunshine to the stage with her arrangements inspired by her ‘Holiday in the Sun’ in Cyprus. The arrangements reflected various aspects of the holiday experience: the first glimpse of the island from the plane, the food and drink, and a boat trip. Some of the representations within the designs included phormiums as kebab sticks, calla lilies and plaited palms as waves, cordylines as sails and red gladiator roses as meat.

As always, there was a wide variety of shape and design in the arrangements  with  beautiful flowers, foliage and containers. We were introduced to a new type of    gerbera called pastini with curly petals.      

The presentation was friendly and entertaining – managing a Segway and swimming from the boat were two interesting stories and members went away from the evening with a smile on their faces! Along the way Yvonne offered advice and ‘hints’ such as how to ‘curve’ calla lilies, different leaf manipulation and which flowers to cut straight rather than slanted.

Thank you Yvonne for an enjoyable evening and for allowing us to include pictures of your arrangements.

We were delighted to welcome Pauline Foster to Bedford for the first time this month.

Her presentation was ‘Dressing the Dandy’ which reflected her interest in costume and history.

She delighted us with six very different designs – traditional and contemporary – which included Beau Brummell, Edward VIII (and his golfing interest), James Bond (Diamonds are Forever), Matadors and Madame de Pompadour.

The wide variety of arrangements used  beautiful containers complemented with accessories  which also reflected Pauline’s love of craft. There was also an extremely wide variety of  beautiful flowers, combination of colours and foliage.  Foliage included periwinkle, hostas, laurel, heuchera, bergenia, tillandis air plants, cordyline, conifer and eucalyptus. Flowers included  clematis, spray roses, delphiniums, crocosmia, chrysanthemums, callas, orchids, carnations and pin head protea.

The stage looked beautiful at the end of the evening and there were many happy raffle winners – thank you Pauline for an interesting, informative and entertaining evening.

We had a lovely, enjoyable outing to the NAFAS Diamond Show in Islington this month. There was so much to do and to see that it is impossible to do the show justice here – flowers were everywhere in the Design Centre and shop windows had been decorated in nearby Camden Passage. The photos below give just a very small flavour of the day.

We were pleased to welcome Jane back to Bedford again this month. The designs represented things that delight us hence her title ‘A Box of Delights’. We had  representations of pancakes, coffee and Turkish Delight, as well as the pleasure we get from the garden and from looking at the moonlight.  

There was a  wide variety of beautiful flowers (including stocks, gerbera, sunflowers- with and without the petals, clematis, lisianthus, peonies, callas, roses and pin head protea)  and foliage (including fatsia, winter flowering honeysuckle, beech, rosemary, bergenia , phormium and eucalyptus).   The mechanics used  were also varied; foam free using a grid made from tape,  the use of minimal floral foam, a hand tie within a frame made from twisted tendrils from a kiwi plant in addition to more traditional mechanics in lovely containers.

The stage at the end of the evening was also a ‘delight’ with beautiful, different and colourful designs and there were many happy raffle  winners.

Thank you Jane for an instructive, entertaining and enjoyable demonstration. Thank you also for allowing us to post a couple of pictures

We had a relaxed, informal evening this month when over fifty members participated in our ‘hands on’ members evening. The theme was ‘recycling and no floral foam’ . Originally we all thought it would be a challenge but mechanics included pin holders, chicken wire, pebbles, twigs,  marbles,  structures made from midelino sticks and sand. Containers varied from treacle tins and decorated milk containers to teapots as well as traditional containers. The stage  was transformed from a ‘take your pick of five roses’ to a lovely,  diverse and varied display of arrangements demonstrating the creativity and skill of our members.

During the evening we  took the opportunity to ask members to complete a questionnaire to get their ideas and comments on how we might take  the society forward. We enjoyed a delicious bring and share supper and had more opportunity to chat to fellow members than at a usual meeting. We finished the evening with a plant quiz – a male insect (four letters) seemed to be the clue that caused most difficulty!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to a very successful and enjoyable evening.    

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.

Over twenty members enjoyed a busy and challenging day at a workshop led by Gill McGregor. She showed us how to be creative with laurel leaves in two very different designs. A few pictures below of the first arrangement – thank you for a very instructive day Gill

We were delighted to welcome Jo Poulter back to Bedford this month.

 Designs featured an arched window, a copper circle, a traditional triangle, a hand tie in a ‘cube’ bag, a traditional triangle, a star and a spiral – a demonstration which certainly lived up to its title ‘All Shapes and Sizes’. There was something for everyone – traditional and contemporary – large and small;  and certainly ideas which could easily be adapted to use  at home – something which  many of our members appreciated.

Flowers included delphiniums, stocks, daffodils, muscari, iris, sunflower heads (with and without the petals), roses, gerberas, chrysanthemums, antirrhinums – we were introduced  to a lovely different coloured rose ‘Golden Mustard’. There was just as wide a  range of  foliage and accessories used.

Jo gave us an interesting commentary throughout with hints and ideas together with entertaining stories. Thank you Jo for a very enjoyable evening. There are just a couple of pictures below.

For the first demonstration of the year we welcomed back Sharon Badger who took for her theme ‘A Vision for the Future’.  

Sharon’s arrangements reflected turning points in history.  The first represented ancient history and mythology: Aphrodite (red roses) and Roman roads (canes) .  This was followed by an asymmetrical design reminiscent of the Edwardian period with palms, ferns, white spider chrysanthemums and carnations, and red tulips. The third very striking and structural arrangement with yellow roses as the main flower echoed the days of Art Deco styles.  Next was a flamboyant, psychedelic and energetic arrangement depicting the 1960s, using sunflowers, orange carnations and red mini gerberas. The final arrangement using white anthuriums and silver bear grass was a delicate and glittery futuristic design.

Thank you Sharon for sharing your expertise. It was a wonderful display and much appreciated by both longstanding and new members.