The Garden Club of America held its annual Shirley Meneice Conference at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA. This is a meeting of more than 250 avid horticulturists who meet for several days of workshops and garden study. I was asked to present a brief workshop on flower arranging for gardeners.
Several of my Four Counties Garden Club members helped with the program and the time was limited, only 50 minutes to cover a myriad of eco-friendly arranging techniques using materials from local gardens including mine.
Designing with space is a chapter in my book Flower Arranging Secrets and our first two designs illustrated the use of space. A wooden board with tubes tied to bamboo skewers holds elegant zinnias and shows each stem off as it arches gracefully in space. Jelly jars filled with herbs and flowers may be used in a line for a long table or circled, as shown, on a round of wood, or put into a basket. A good thing about using space is that it can be easily changed.
Of course we talked about pot et fleur because adding a few flowers to an assortment of plants is easy for horticulturists. Also designing in sand is great for gardeners since a few blooms can hold a long time when displayed in sand.
My own garden has very few flowers and is mostly foliage plants. When I started teaching at Longwood Garden I would come home and want to change everything about the garden so I did. Shades of green and textural contrast without lots of colors and shapes make it work for me. Two designs for the workshop feature greens and very few flowers.
