In May our Club met at St Mary’s Church on King Street where, along with the demonstration, we also held our annual plant sale.  In spite of the bad weather which has held back so many of the plants this year there was still a large and varied selection of plants from the gardens of our members.  The benefit of buying at a plant sale like this one is you know that they have been grown locally and are well suited to the North East climate.

Kath's 1st creation 

 

We were delighted to welcome Kath Gibson from Tyne & Wear as our demonstrator, especially as she had stepped in at short notice when our scheduled demonstrator had to cancel.

 

 

The Island of Madeira inspired the Kath’s first arrangement and those who have been there will see why from the attached image.  A series of wreath rings wound with ribbon and raffia were mounted on four lengths of dogwood creating a tall framework.  Madonna lilies were staggered at various heights and inserted into the centre of the framework with Cyperus papyrus topping the layers in this design.  Stunning lime-green orchids were placed at the base of the framework to complete the design. 

 Kath pictured with her 2nd creation on the left and 3rd creation on the right

 

A modern mass and line arrangement containing leucodendron, rose and carnation was next, followed by a tribute to the art of Van Gogh.  A screen of different coloured sisal behind the arrangement added depth to this design and sunflower, iris and wheat, all of which can be seen in his work contributed to the finished effect.

 

Kath's 4th creation





The strange looking Sansevieria cylindrical, the ‘cylindrical snake plan’ and some “out of this world” leaves crafted from aspidistra and white felt were bend into shape to form the basis of a stunning contemporary design finished with beautiful white anthurium placed to one side.

 

Kath's final creation




A more traditional arrangement, but with a contemporary twist, completed the demonstration.  An openwork metal container containing a piece of green fabric held an arrangement into which many different shapes and shades of foliage were placed.  The pink of the Rosa “Aqua” was echoed in the choice of anthurium “Pistachio” which contained a touch of pink and the whole design was finished with some pink midilino sticks.

 

Kath’s demonstration title “Fun with Flowers” certainly summed up the evening - it was obvious throughout the demonstration that Kath loves her flowers and we certainly had great fun and enjoyment watching her create the arrangements and listening to her chat about the places and people who had inspired them.