Cheviot Valley, Flower Club

At the July meeting of the Cheviot Valleys Flower Club Mrs Lizzie Harrat entertained us with a demonstration of Summer Pleasures.

Her first design to represent a summer picnic used a willow picnic basket with a container inside.

Using ferns for the outline of a diagonal arrangement, she placed two hellebore leaves and variegated weigela to cover the centre. Five large sunflowers were arranged, with green, round-shaped chrysanths and yellow roses. She stood the basket with glasses on napkins in front.

To represent a boat at the seaside she had a rectangular container on a base.

At each end she placed a curled aspidistra leaf. The foliage in the centre included weigela, pittosporum and green ivy. Upright in the middle she put in two kochias, with aconitum beside each, then white larkspur, white chrysanths at varying heights, and purple veronica at one end and lilac freesia at the other. Around the base, hydrangea was placed, and to complete it alchemilla mollis and eryngiums.

The boat was displayed on blue material with white net and shells.

The third design used a large ring, which represented the garden. It was divided into sections of different coloured plant material.

In the white section she put in freesia, chrysanths, larkspur euonymus and photinia. The yellow section had roses, hosta leaves and weigela. Aconitum, freesia and lavender were used in the blue section. A pink section had sweet Williams, fairy roses, larkspur and ‘aqua’ roses. For the green section she used balloon chrysanths, small green ones with roses, crocosmia, and sweet Williams in the orange one.

Foliage included senecio, weigela, hosta leaves and photinia.

For the next design she used a trug to make a basket of garden flowers.

Placing senecio and eucalyptus over the edge at one end, she added pink larkspur with the stems at the other end. Hosta leaves and green ivy were put in to cover the oasis. Pink roses and a raffia bow over the centre completed the design.

She then showed us how to make a hand-tied bunch, beginning with pale pink roses for the centre and adding senecio, pink gypsophila, alstroemeria, alchemilla mollis, eucalyptus, and hosta leaves.

This was wrapped in cellophane with pink blobs on it, and placed in a cream pot with pink tissue paper.

Her final design used a cream pottery urn in which she did a pedestal arrangement.

Eucalyptus and ferns were used for the outline, then other foliage, including allchemilla mollis, weigela and ivy, with white larkspur and white roses coming down through the design.

Two lilies were then placed in the centre, some green double lisianthus, hosta leaves, hellebore leaves, ivy and small green chrysanths finished off the design.

Mrs Vicky Oliver gave the vote of thanks on our behalf for the gorgeous flower designs.

She said it certainly had been a night of Summer Pleasures, and wished Mrs Harrat well when she moves away.

The next meeting of the Cheviot Valleys Flower Club is on Wednesday, September 28, when Mrs Christine Ogle will entertain us with Lavender Blue.

It will be held at Whittingham Memorial Institute, at 7.30pm. Visitors welcome.