“Midsummer Madness”

On yet another warm evening, forty-four members of Pershore Flower Club and six visitors met at Bishampton Village Hall on the 18th July to be inspired and enthralled by the expertise and amusing stories of our invited demonstrator, Andrew Lloyd from Stourbridge. He began with a lime green pot which he filled with acer and rhododendrum foliage and tall purple alliums, having ‘gently teased’ the blooms, and green Anastasia chrysanthemums. He then added birch twigs dipped purple, lilac larkspur, celosia cocks comb and finally four blooms of anthurium in a glorious metallic purple colour. The combination of lime green and purple was beautiful. Next, a ‘little vase’,twenty-four inches tall, on which he added small pieces of eunonymous and golden yew. For even more height, he used stems of pale lemon foxtail lily, then bright yellow dahlias forming a pyramid with very small sunflowers and small glorious golden roses. Andrew then produced from behind the curtain a wreath – “one I did earlier” - using the same flowers and placed the tall vase inside the wreath making a very dramatic design. The third arrangement reflected the many weddings for which Andrew is doing the flowers. Into a low glass bowl, he placed green and white foliage, white gladioli, palm leaves, white Canterbury bells, white lilies, white ‘avalanche’ roses and then added three stems of white Phalaenopsis orchids which hung elegantly down from the vase. This beautiful arrangement was placed on a tall metal stand to ‘show off’ the effect of the lilies. We then went barbecuing! Andrew produced a rusty metal frame with a piece of driftwood through the middle. He used foliage with red stems mixed with a little ivy, red montbretia to create the flames with red carnations, orange alstromaria and small red pompom dahlias, orange celosia with all foliage removed and vibrant two-coloured roses called ‘cherry brandy’. A really hot design! Finally Andrew created a traditional design in a traditional urn. He used ferns, magnolia and rhododendrum foliage and ivy forming a simple shape. Then he added purple larkspur, pink snapdragons, white statis, pink alstroemeria, brighter pink dahlias, pink stargazer lilies and pink gerberas. The final touch to this beautiful design was a few blooms of pink roses from Ecuador. He placed the urn on a pedestal and once again from behind the curtain produced a wooden garden trug filled with the same flowers. It all made a spectacular display and the whole evening was really enjoyed by those present. The lucky raffle prizewinners went home thrilled.

If you would like to join us at one of these evenings, Pershore Flower Club meets on the third Wednesday in the month, the next demonstration being on the 19th September at 7.30 p.m. at Bishampton Village Hall. Visitors welcome.

DINAH WOOD