Doe's anyone go to a flower club or floral demonstrations?
I am member of a floral art group,we meet once a month. We watch a national floral demonstrator
make usually six arrangements, have a coffee, exchange ideas,buy floristry products at a stall
and offer our competition arrangements to the judge!
Next month our competition title is an arrangement with a piece of wood.
I don't have any wood yet! Has anyone got any ideas please?
Flower Clubs
That sounds like a lot of fun Terri, esp when you all share the same enthusiasm for floral art. Wish I could join you...could I via satellite or something? Haha. I'm not sure if there's anything like that around here...but then there's no time for me to do that anyway. This forum is my outlet for floral art, I guess. Hmmm...wood? Is bamboo a wood? You know how I love bamboo, esp large cane ones. I also like large dead tree branches....like the ones they grow orchids and bromeliads on. I'll make you one when I find the time....and the wood.
Thanks Karma, I didn't think of bamboo! although I only have some skinny sticks!
I would love you to come to the flower club once a month. I will tell you what we are doing and you can join me!
I don't have any dead branches either. It is not the sort of thing you can just go and buy really is it?
I will have to find woods!
Didn't Poochella posted a really cool vase she made from a raw piece of wood? I thought that was really nice. Skinny sticks of bamboo are cool too. How about making a vertical grid by connecting the joints with raffia or rope/jute? Then you could do the arrangement on the grid? Seen it done somewhere. I remember thinking it would make a great headboard if turned horizontally. Well, thanks for the invitation...I will be happy to join you!
Thanks for the idea Karma. I think I have seen that somewhere, how would you attatch the flowers to the grid?
Where is that vase Poochella did with the piece of wood?
You can wire a small block of foam around the joints (stronger at the joints) and cover the foam with sheet moss? Let me look for Poochella's vase. Will be back.
Here it is http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/711675/
This message was edited Aug 22, 2007 6:52 AM
Garden clubs still exist. Like many social institutions which require volunteer members with free time on their hands, I sense these clubs have fallen on hard times..at least in my region. For whatever reason, the garden clubs I'm familiar with were populated mostly by female members and the changing role of women over the past few decades also means there are fewer and fewer who can devote time to a luncheon and afternoon meeting. (Not that women ever had time for that with all the work and responsibilities of running a household, but the emergence of professional career women leaves even less "unscheduled" time for such activities I guess).
I'd love to see a re-emergence of these organizations. Speaking as a man, it would be even more desirable from my point of view that they would re-emerge as "co ed" organizations with a diversity of aims, including floral arranging, general horticulture, vegetable gardening, organic versus chemical, etc. (Although, what am I saying? Do I really want to be against a group where I'd be the only guy in amongst 25-30 garden loving gals?) :)
Thankyou for dong that link Karma, It is really lovely that container of Poochella's. Where am I going to find a lovely
hollowed out piece of Birch like that around here?!! I will find Something no doubt.
Are you going to try the grid idea?
BDale, Our club meets at 7.30pm, first Wednesday every month.
Most of the floral designers from Holland are Men, by the way! For some reason the Dutch men are very good at floral
design. At Hampton Court flower show recently, the floral demonstraters were men. So please don't give up!
If anyone wants to join in with the flower club theme this month, it will be on wednesday!
' An arrangement with a piece of wood ' HAVE FUN!
Post your woody arrangements here!
Is the meeting today? I haven't found anything "woody" I'd like to use yet!
Here's Harry! Where's everybody's "wood"?
That is a lovely arrangement Sookey, I like Larry very much. I like the way you have made the background too, it really sets off the display.Thanks so much and well done.
I haven't done my photo's yet! but I will as soon as I get time.
Very nice sookey. I like the way you arranged harry. He is really cool. What's the dark foliage at the base? Ornamental sweet potato vine? Very nice contrast. Thanks so much for sharing.
I will see if I can do something this afternoon...I have to hunt down wood and buy some flowers.
Yes Karma, Splash out on some flowers, good idea!!!
The pressure is on now, isn't it?
Thanks, all, for the encouragement; it'll help me keep on trying.
I had the worst time keeping everything standing straight for the pics. And the Heliotrope died by the next morning :( Do you have problems with Heliotrope? Seems last time I put it in the "getting to know you" vase that it also died first, and quickly! Know any secrets for extending its vase life? And that darned floral foam disintegrated, too. Can't seem to reposition anything. Guess I better plan better in advance.
Yes, Karma that is sweet potatoe vine 'Blackie'.
And Terri, that's just my sofa throw behind the vase, it had the purple of the Heliotrope and seemed less distracting than my cluttered kithchen. What do you use behind your pics?
Hi Sookey, I find that some garden flowers are just not suitable for picking and arranging they are best left where they are.
The woody stem stuff needs to be given the shock treatment! Cut the stems then hold into a cup of boiling water for
1 minute only, this shocks the plant and it helps to get the water all the way up the stem. It may sound drastic but it
works. DON'T do this with anything else!!
It is important to always cut your stems at a slant, this is for 2 major reasons, firstly for conditioning the flowers,which
should be done the day before you intend to use them, or at the very least 2 hrs before. It helps to put flower food in the water too. Secondly, the slant will help you to push the stems into the floral foam much easier and try not to reposition
them too much! when the holes get big you have the falling out problem.
I would really say not to worry too much about trying to make it look perfect , but take a more go with the flo
attitude, it's all learning and the more you do the more condfident you will become.
Hope that helps!
I have a piece of black cotton material about 3 metres long, which I usually use for indoor arrangements,and
a bamboo stick to hang it from.
If it's not good foam it will break up anyway, not trying to plug oasis but it's the best one I've used!!
Woody roots.
pink roses and wheat
wood arrangement!
sticks & flowers
sticks & flowers in test tubes.
I don't know why that came out twice, but I guess that adds another post!
Terri, your wood arrangement is cool! Is that bunny grass?....very nice. Is that what you brought to the meeting? I bet everyone was full of oohs and aahs! I love the sticks and flowers. The blanket of mums create a beautiful contrast for your roses. Did you put the twigs together yourself? Sorry so many questions, I just love it! You really have the best ideas!
I should get something black for background. It really makes the arrangements stand out better.
Well, here's my wood arrangement. I found this dead piece of wood in the back of my dad's backyard, along with other interesting trees that would make nice arrangements with. Just some gerbera daisies and curly willow sticks that came with a bunch of greens at the supermarket.
Thanks Karma, what is bunny grass?
I love your arrangement, so elegant as usual! nice piece of wood too, Dads do come in handy don't they?!!
The theme for next month is.........
'Parallel lines'
Karma, your wood arrangement is like a start of a parrallel line already!! The gerbera's are beautiful and the placement looks good. well done!
Hey Karma, maybe no-one likes are woody arrangements!! don't worry df I think you're the best! and thankyou to both
you and Sookey for joining in.
Thanks terri, here's another great find from my dad's backyard.
Thankyou Karma,Great! nice pot too, we have to become more creative now with summer nearly over,we can't rely on the beautiful summer flowers anymore.
Those twigs are great for spraying, so don't throw them out. We can look forward to autumn / winter
displays with all the lovely coloured leaves,berries and seedheads.
What kind of spray? I can only think of snow for christmas.
Gold and silver, but you can get all different colours these days. They are really good to preserve the leaves or berries
and give colour to pinecones, twigs, nuts etc.... and great for making christmas tree decorations with plant materials.
Sorry, I've had company over the weekend and couldn't get online.
These "woodies" are way cool!
Terri, I like that you've shown the progress of woody roots to wood arrangement. And your "sticks and flowers" are very pretty, I'm liking the color contrast and the sticks - how'd you hold 'em together?
And Karma: If this is what you do with some findings from dad's place... well again just let me say WOW! I'm thinking here it's about the negative space as well as the solids, right? And love the vase.
Also want to know how Terri sprays her twigs and are the arrangement categories set up on a monthly basis? I thought it was weekly - that's why I asked where they were.
Sookey, originally we thought about having a different theme every week (or at least that was what I had in mind) like the "get to know you", "tea time", and "summer getaway", but for some reason, we never went beyond those. Participation sort of went down as the weeks went by, so Terri let us join in on her monthly themed floral meetings. Of course, you can always start a theme if you'd like, and I'll be happy to join you. Thanks for the positive feedback. You definitely understood the concept of negative/empty space; "Less is more" kind of deal. Or maybe it's just an excuse for not spending too much on flowers. Anyway, hope you stick around for a while...we can both learn how to spray our twigs. Sookey, if you have grass, join the ornamental grass thread. I'm the only one with an arrangement in there. Could use some help in there. Terri, you too!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/760076/
Hi Sookey, glad you liked the woody arrangenents. The sticks were glued with a hot glue gun.
I use a spray booth, which is just a big cardboard box which I fold away after use.
Place the twigs or plant material inside, spray, turn over with tongues and spray again.
I would join in a weekly theme sookey.
Ok Karma, I may have to use my bunny grass for the ornamental grasses, I don't think I have any other grasses.
BTW, how am I going to get that root out of the vase? It was a big struggle to get it in!!! I think it can live in the vase
foever now, luckily I got it in a sale for 50p.
I saw this advert and thought it was quite funny.
Thanks for the instructions Terri. Yay, please use the bunny grass! Very funny about the wood living in the vase. I think it's pretty nice.
The ad is pretty cute and funny. LOL. It's midnight in London, Terri?
12.30 am now, must sleep soon, got a busy day tomorrow but will try to do an arrangement with the grass
tomorrow. trouble is I don't have that much of it so it maybe zen like!! wooohooo!
I'll try tomorrow to do something with grass. I have a purple moor grass but haven't really checked it out lately to see its condition.
But touring Cleveland Botanical garden's Children's garden first tomorrow :)
Luv the watermelon as oasis substitute ad!
Sookey, thanks. I can't wait to see it. Have fun on your tour!
Sookey,have a lovely day out at the gardens. I look forward to your grasses.
SNAP!