BFAS is still a flourishing and successful club! – this was reported at our AGM by officers’ reports. We have a membership of over 90 and have welcomed several new members this year.  We  have had a varied and successful programme including inspirational and entertaining demonstrations, an enjoyable and instructive workshop with Barbara Collins, a visit to Ely Cathedral Flower Festival and a practical members evening when we again realised the talent and expertise we have within our membership. We continue to provide weekly flowers in the Faith Room at Bedford Hospital. Committee members were all thanked for their hard work throughout the year especially on meeting the challenge when three demonstrators  had unavoidably cancelled at short  notice. Volunteers and members were also thanked for their contribution and hard work. We were delighted to announce that a cheque for £475 would be sent to Magpas Air Ambulance as a result of charity fund raising throughout the year.

Following the formal part of the evening Rachelle Merrill gave us an illustrated talk entitled  ‘Home Grown Talent’ . She concentrated on three areas: Why Buy British flowers? The  Flowers from the Farm organisation and Merri Flowers. Merri Flowers is a local small business focussing on growing and selling Christmas trees and British flowers; they like to provide customers with personal experiences e.g. tagging your chosen Christmas tree and selecting blooms of your own choice.

We look forward to starting our programme of demonstrations on March 5^th when Sharon Badger will present ‘Vision of the Future’.

There were lots of baubles, lots of silver birch, lots of glitter and lots of laughter during our Christmas demonstration ‘ Joyous Noel’ with Kathy Stangaard! Add to this some lovely Christmas music and of course beautiful flower arrangements; a very enjoyable evening was had by all and we went home in a relaxed but festive mood – thank you Kathy. Thank you also for allowing us to share pictures of the arrangements.
The designs were varied in shape and colour resulting in a beautiful, final stage display. There was a wide variety of both foliage and flowers. Flowers included roses, chrysanthemums, germini, clematis, anthuriums, carnations and a tropical selection. There was traditional foliage associated with Christmas such as blue spruce , pine, and silver birch (coloured or glittered) together with bergenia, fatsia, viburnum, aspidistra, palms, ruscus and pittosporum (to name a few!). Accessories included cones, a candle, and of course, baubles. There were many happy raffle winners.
Thank you to everyone who generously donated to and then participated in our successful ‘hamper raffle’ the proceeds of which go to our charity.
We have had a varied and interesting year; demonstrations, workshops and visits – thank you to everyone who has worked hard in any way to make this happen. A very Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2019 – we look forward to seeing you at the AGM on February 5th.

It was lovely to see sixty of our members participating in our practical Members Evening this month. We all started with an 8” foam based wreath ring, a stem of spray chrysanthemums and a small amount of foliage. The designs were enhanced by accessories and sundries brought by members together with some extra foliage. The stage looked stunning at the end of the evening – we had Autumn, Christmas and celebratory designs together with imaginative ways of using the wreath ring – we certainly didn’t finish up with sixty circles! As always we realised what talent and expertise we have within our membership.
We enjoyed a ‘bring and share’ supper with more time to ‘chat’ than at an ordinary meeting and the evening finished with three members demonstrating a decorative orb ( this had been learnt at the NAFAS ‘Masquerade’ weekend) – we look forward to the competition set for next month!
Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way to make the evening such a success.

The arrangements in Anna’s ‘Do you see what I see?’ presentation provided a design for everyone; from traditional (a pedestal) to contemporary (using silver birch twigs as mechanics). The exciting colour combinations and quality and choice of flowers resulted in stunning designs which provoked lots of comment and inspiration. This, together with insight into life at Oxford gave us a very entertaining evening.

Twenty members had a lovely day at the workshop led by Barbara Collins. Everyone worked very hard, we learnt new techniques and all created two beautiful designs – all starting with the same materials but such different results – we have very talented members. Thank you Barbara for a very enjoyable day and to Ann for organising it.

We were very disappointed that our expected demonstrator could not come at the last minute due to illness and hope she is feeling better very soon. However we did utilise the beautiful flowers that she had already purchased. The evening’s theme changed from ‘Around the World’ to ‘Turning a Bad Day into a Good Day’! A very big thank you to all committee members who worked hard both during the day and the evening but particularly to Ann and Sandra who shared their talents and expertise with us to present some beautiful arrangements – a few pictures are included below.

It was a very hot evening last Tuesday so we were delighted to welcome a good audience of members and friends to our successful Open Evening – held in August for the first time. Due to the extreme weather this year John Chennell admitted he had had to to change his ideas from when he first gave us the title of ‘Shades of August’ over twelve months ago. Consequently we saw seed heads, foliage and flowers more reminiscent of Autumn being included in his arrangements.
As always John’s love and knowledge of gardening shone through and we appreciated his tips on design and mechanics. He used a very wide selection of home grown garden material including poppy and phlomis seed heads, shrub honeysuckle, honesty, fennel, horseradish and silver elaeagnus. Flowers included sunflowers, larkspur, agapanthus, roses, asters and delphiniums – a real mixture of Summer and early Autumn.
A wide variety of arrangements provided a stunning stage display and the vote of thanks incorporating the words ‘fantastic, fabulous and phenomenal’ summed up the audience’s reaction and appreciation.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the evening in any way – from preparing refreshments at 5pm to clearing the stage at 10pm. The refreshing refreshments on a very hot evening were very much appreciated.
A couple of pictures below give an indication of John’s talent and expertise.

It was a pleasure to welcome Vikki back to Bedford. We enjoyed listening to glimpses into the life story of a fictitious couple (un- named as yet) as she presented beautiful arrangements for ‘Treasured Moments’ in their lives – we began with their engagement and finished with their pearl wedding anniversary.

The designs included traditional and contemporary arrangements and used a wide variety of flowers and foliage ( much from Vikki’s own garden) including pittosporum ‘Oliver Twist’ ( a new variety to many of us), fatsia, ferns, hebe, evergreen jasmine and manipulated phormium and aspidistra leaves. Flowers included carnations, roses, alostromeria, antirrhinums, hydrangea, dahlias, paeonias, freesias and orchids. Other ‘items’ included apples, carrots, peppers, herbs and pieces of orange floor cloth!
Thank you Vikki for a very entertaining evening – we look forward to welcoming you back another time for ‘Treasured Moments 2’ to find out what else happened to the family. Thank you also for allowing us to include a picture of one of the designs.

Over thirty members enjoyed a visit to Ely Cathedral Flower Festival ‘Kaleidoscope of Life’. It was a beautiful day and the arrangements certainly matched the weather. The cathedral looked spectacular and really celebrated the skills, artistry, love of all things floral and imagination of flower arrangers. It was lovely to see work from one of our members. Thanks to Jenny C for organising such a successful outing. Just a few pictures of the hundreds taken by members below.

The theme of Clare’s ‘Stepping into Summer’ presentation was an English summer garden and her arrangements used seasonal flowers which the audience welcomed and enjoyed. Hydrangeas, delphiniums, lisianthus, Solomon’s seal, roses, dahlias lilies and gladioli amongst others were used to create attractive colour combinations and designs.

‘Hot’ colours were used for the first arrangement which depicted the garden border and then the mood became more reflective and we relaxed into the lazy days of summer. Designs on a cake stand, in an enamel jug and in a statement piece watering can (coveted by many of us) followed. The final, beautiful arrangement in a giant flower pot completed the scene.

Owner of Skipps in Biggleswade, Clare is an award winning florist and as she created her designs she talked about her work and also gave us some useful tips for getting the best from the flowers we buy. We were very grateful to Clare for giving us time from her busy schedule as she kindly filled in at short notice when our booked demonstrator was indisposed.

Thank you Clare for a lovely evening. We appreciated your creative talent and the speed and deftness you used to complete each design.