Photographs by Kate Fahey
My December began the holiday season with a visit from the Dallas Garden Club to the Merion Cricket Club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, for a tour of the historic building and a floral design celebration to usher in the 2022 Christmas season. The club was beautifully decorated and three members of the MCC Flower Committee worked with me to present a floral design demonstration for the Dallas ladies.
A welcoming fire greeted the Dallas ladies as they entered The Cottage, a perfect place for a flower class because of its excellent lighting and clean, off-white walls. Margo Bennett, Bobette Fisk, Mary Jo Strawbridge, and I worked simultaneously to create four designs for the dining room tables and a few other pieces.
Once completed, arrangements were moved across the way to the club house.
Margo’s design in glass gave the entrance hall a cheerful modern look.
Two tall panels with floating fatsia leaves and red roses stood at either end of the bar while ladies began the dinner hour with cocktails and wine.
An arrangement of turquoise dried palm, cedar, and red ilex with purple lisianthus, red anemone, and peonies glowed on a table in front of a fireplace near the bar.
Each of the dining tables in the elegant Furness Room held a freshly completed floral design.
Bobette’s opulent wreath filled the table with greens, and an array of ornaments with red and purple hued flowers. You can find more about her work at wreathsbybobette on Instagram.
Mary Jo is a student of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana and created a stunning contemporary piece with a New Year’s Eve celebration in mind. Hot pink mitsumata branches are enhanced with glass beads and pink flowers.
A modern take on the topiary was created by Mary Jo with pine, hydrangea, red gerbera and two kinds of anthurium.
Jane’s table design used a bowl of gold branches with greens, red roses, and fuchsia anemone and ranunculus.
We all enjoyed meeting the lovely ladies from the Dallas Garden Club and wished them well with their next day’s tour at Longwood Gardens. The Pennsylvania area has so many wonderful places to visit for flower and garden enthusiasts, and it was great fun to share Merion Cricket Club and some floral design ideas with them.
May your holiday season be filled with flowers and “flower friends.
Beautiful!!
It was fun to create whatever came to mind!