Easter Flowers

These are the gorgeous flowers we arranged at my workshop a couple of days ago on Maundy Thursday. The workshop was based around the idea of using up-cycled containers as vases. Below are some of the flowers at the start of the workshop, together with a few examples of different containers I had made from the flotsam and jetsam of life.

We had some lovely flowers from Clowance Flowers in Cornwall to work with – pink and yellow ranunculus, white narcissi, pretty snowdrops (the last of the season), pink tulips and splendid yellow irises.

The concept of up-cycling is that you take some used item and enhance it so that it is transformed into something else. This is different to re-cycling where used glass, tin, paper etc. are taken through an industrial process to make them into something else that feels new. Up-cycling is more of a craft activity and uses less resource in the transformation process (and is better for the environment). For the workshop I had painted tin cans, covered juice cartons with pretty paper, stuck some lace onto a yogurt pot and tied some ribbon to a small jam jar. As the containers are all of different sizes and shapes, I used colour and the same lace/ribbon to add consistency across the arrangements so that they looked as though they belonged together.

Here is a close-up of the individual pieces:

I was really pleased with this workshop – the arrangements looked so pretty and so did the containers. This approach can work really well for a party or a wedding because you can customise the vases to fit the look and colour scheme you have chosen for very little money (but quite a lot of labour!). Up-cycled containers also make lovely presents when you fill them with flowers – the person receiving the gift doesn`t have to go searching for a suitable vase and they get the bonus of a container which you have made yourself. Finally, I would like to wish you all a happy Easter and share this pretty little jug filled with simple narcissi and foliage. We will be using this yellow and green crockery at the next workshop in May which is on the theme of vintage flowers.

Flowers, love and marriage

Things are starting to move in the flower year. All sorts of lovely spring flowers are now available from Cornwall and daffodils, crocus and hellebore are all blooming in our Sheffield garden. The jugs above are the product of last weekend’s Welcome to Spring /Mother’s Day Workshop. The picture below shows some of the flowers we used – ranunculus, tulips and green iris. Such beautiful, vivid colours.

We also used lots of narcissi which smelled wonderful. This early cheer was particularly splendid.

As well as the large jug arrangements, we also made pretty jam jar arrangements – we added a few snowdrops and anemones to these.

This weekend I also went to a wedding fayre at the Holiday Inn Royal Victoria in Sheffield. Here I am in front of my stall.

Wedding fayres are a bit of a showcase of the kinds of arrangements I might make for weddings. I showed two different colour schemes – first of all bright yellows, pinks and other strong colours presented in the containers we used for the workshop – the Heron Cross jug and up-cycled jam jars. The jam jars are great for receptions because guest can take them away at the end of the evening. I also displayed the book that Jessie and I made about the development of Meadowsweet – it is called ‘Flowers for Life’.

Then I also used a colour scheme of white, blue and pink.

I made a bridesmaid’s posy from white ranunculus and blue anemones and finished it off with lace held in place with diamante pins. This looked really fresh and pretty.

I also made three tiny arrangements in small jam jars – these showed how flowers can be spread across a large area by making lots of small arrangements rather than one large one. 

The other two items which drew a lot of interest were the cup and saucer arrangement and the posy in an up-cycled tin.  Here they are back in my workshop after the fayre.

I had a great time talking to couples about their wedding plans – everyone is so excited and happy about their big day. Some couples are planning a grand wedding in a venue like the Royal Victoria which is quite magnificent with high ceilings and elaborate chandeliers, and others are on a tight budget and thinking about arranging their flowers themselves – one of my workshops could really help with this! Finally, on the theme of love, look at this picture I took in Millhouses park on Sunday. It is a huge heart made out of purple crocuses – it is stunning when you come across it. Somehow it has captured the essence of this time of year – full of optimism, hope and love.

South West Flower Growers

Last week I went down to Devon to the annual meeting of the South West British Flower Growers. We stayed with our friends in Exeter the night before the meeting and I gave them a present of a few English spring flowers (hyacinths and anemones) mixed up with several different types of foliage from our garden. I hand-tied the flowers and placed them in this pretty Heron Cross jug. This is the jug we will use for the flower workshop on Saturday 14 March – lovely for Mother’s Day or just for yourself!  I went along to the meeting of the SW growers because there were some interesting talks and flower arranging demonstrations, and it was a chance to meet James from Clowance Flowers who is my main supplier. The meeting was thronged with excited growers and florists who specialise in using seasonal British flowers.

Several wholesalers had stands – growers, seed suppliers, packaging suppliers and more. Here are some pictures from the Clowance stand – an abundance of lovely English flowers (and a good example of the kind of flowers we will be using at the workshop in March).

The flower arranging demonstrations were done by the Academy of Floral Art which is based in Exeter. They run a mix of accredited floristry courses leading to qualifications and short courses aimed at florists and flower arrangers.

I liked the way they picked up the natural ethos of the growers and demonstrated arrangements made without floral foam. They used fallen twigs to create structures to hold seasonal English flowers in place, creating some impressive arrangements.

There was also a hand-tied arrangement in a large tin. I have used tins myself quite a lot, but I think they look a bit industrial – great for some commercial premises like restaurants or delis, but not so good for a softer domestic environment. I liked the touch of adding a bird and nest to the pussy willow.

The finale was the creation of a large arrangement in a heart shape. A wire structure covered with moss was used for the framework, then tulips sitting in plastic test tubes were tied in. This used surprisingly little flower material, but created great impact. All in all, some good ideas which I will have a go at modifying for my own purposes.

I was also really pleased to meet Georgie Newbery who is an energetic flower grower and entrepreneur. She runs a very successful flower farm in Somerset called Common Farm. She grows gorgeous flowers, does wedding and event flowers, sends bouquets through the post and runs lots of workshops. She has grown her business over the last few years and now employs several people – hats off to her! She has also just written an inspiring and practical book called ‘The Flower Farmer’s Year’ which I bought from her. It has already given me some good ideas and helpful tips as I plan my seed planting for 2015.

On the subject of books, I am on the look out for books by Constance Spry. She really was a front-runner of modern floristry ideas and I am going to write a blog about her later this year. So far, I have found this book with the great title of ‘How to Do the Flowers’.

Spring seemed quite a lot further on in Devon than Sheffield, but when we got back I found a clump of snowdrops poking through the snow in our back garden. Just a little sign that Spring in on its way…….

Christmas reflections

It has been a fantastic flowery Christmas this year. I can`t quite believe how many flowers and how much foliage has been used to make so many gorgeous arrangements. I ran two workshops in very different settings to make a Christmas table centre. This involved decorating a cube-shaped vase with dried materials and then filling it with fresh flowers and foliage. The first workshop was in the usual place for the usual number of people (just 4). These are the materials we used to decorate the vase.

First of all we made a foliage structure inside the vase with eucalyptus, pittosporum, ivy, spruce and holly. Then we added the red flowers and berries into the structure – alstroemeria, anemones, hypericum berries, lucadendron and luscious grand prix roses. As a last touch we added a bit of bling – gold wire with shiny beads attached.

Then we made 6 flowery table settings to match – some participants said they planned to hang them from their Christmas trees – what an excellent idea!

Here is the arrangement boxed up and ready to go, together with a few extras – some narcissi and mistletoe….and, of course, a glass of celebratory wine.

The second workshop took broadly the same approach, but it was for 18 ladies and it was held at the golf club. It was quite a logistical challenge to acquire the large quantities of foliage and flowers we needed - I sourced them from the flower market, supermarkets and some foraging from gardens. The evening was great fun and the arrangements looked fabulous, especially once they were packaged up in the Christmassy red bags I had found.

My other Christmas workshop was to make a traditional wreath. We started by making a straw base on a wire frame and then we added foliage to it. Here is the room ready to go.

The foliage (holly, ivy and spruce) was made into small bunches before it was bound into the frame.

Then we decorated the wreath with dried seed pods, pine cones, oranges, chillies, hydrangea heads and a tartan bow. The wreaths were quite challenging to make, but all the effort was well rewarded as they looked wonderful when they were finished. Here are two participants holding their wreaths up high – you can just see their eyes peering through the hole in the middle if you look carefully.

Hanging wreaths can be a bit of a challenge. I chose to use the two wreath method – two identical wreaths are attached using ribbon and hung on each side of the door. The weight of the wreaths holds them in place and, hey presto, no need for any nails, screws or hanging devices!

A small wreath with a candle in the middle looks great as a table centre. Here is a really simple idea I have taken from my last supermarket workshop.  All you need to do is set 5 shot glasses on a circular mirror, place roses in the glasses and then add in a few Christmas materials – for example cones, chestnuts and dried chillies. At night with the candle lit, light is reflected by the mirror and the arrangement looks pretty impressive…..and so very easy.

Most of us are really busy in the run up to Christmas and if you don`t manage to come to a flower workshop you probably just buy some flowers from the supermarket and pop them into a vase. We made an arrangement in just this way at the supermarket flowers workshop. I chose festive colours and used a Tesco’s mixed bouquet together with a few extra roses and alstroemeria. Again, easy to make and easy on the eye.

I decided to use a non-traditional colour scheme for my Christmas vases this year. I chose vintage jugs which are decorated with a predominantly blue pattern and I used all the primary colours in the arrangements – red and blue anemones, red berries and yellow narcissi. In another jug I used white narcissi instead. I was pleased with them all.

As I settled in for the Christmas holiday I felt very warm inside as I thought about all the work I have done with flowers during 2014. As we come to the end of this festive period, I would like to thank you all for supporting Meadowsweet and wish you a very happy and peaceful New Year.