My Adventures

A recent honor for me was to be invited to be a speaker for the Garden Club of America’s 2021 virtual floral design conference. My topic was to be “Proving the Principles” and I chose to make my presentation illustrate the connection between historical eras and how...

Dressing Up for Spring Still a bit of snow on the ground here but there are signs of spring and little shoots are beginning to pop up from the ground. It’s time to put away the heavy parka and move to lighter jackets and sweaters. It’s also time to bring out some...

In February I reminisce about elementary school Valentine’s Day.  We all had lots and lots of little paper envelopes with cards to open and read .  It was required that cards were given to each student so there were no favorites, although occasionally I confess to...

CLASS 3- WATERFALL. A cascade designLast fall my garden club, Four Counties GC, had their Fall Flower Show. The title of the show was “Love our Earth.” In October 2020 we had two hands-on workshops outdoors and the day of the show exhibitors drove their arrangements...

Red is the color of strong emotion---heat, love, passion! December brings the time of year when we think of using the colors of red and green. This tradition stems from the celebration of the winter solstice when the days began to get longer after six months of...

Here in Pennsylvania we have had our first frost and summer flowers are faded. I am celebrating the cool November days with a big bucket of chrysanthemums and a day of flower arranging with two of my very talented “flower friends.” The flowers posed for their picture...

Last month I shared with my interest in the history of floral design and the influence of the Egyptian Era. Another art movement in history that inspires my design work is Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau emerged as a reaction from the strict academic art and architecture of...

History reveals how ancient Egyptians used flowers through their paintings and bas-relief sculptures.  The bounty of the Nile River provided abundant vegetation and resources for prosperity, while pantheistic belief in multiple gods, each with its own realm of nature,...

Native to Mexico and Central America our beautiful dahlia are abundant in Pennsylvania gardens in August through early October. They are a member…

The art of precious scars. Wabi sabi ,  the Japanese art of imperfection inspired the beautiful idea of repairing broken ceramics with golden lacquer.  First done in the 15th century the practice recognizes the history of an object and creates an enhanced beauty with...