Flower Arranging
Mary Ann Swihart
September 13th 2007
Mary Ann Swihart graciously hosted the September meeting at her awesome country estate [pics] . Mary Ann was also in charge of the program where club members designed flower arrangements in vases. From members' gardens participants used a variety of annual and perennial flowers combined with various grasses to create the arrangements. Zinnias and PeeGee Hydrangeas seemed to be popular. Mary Ann suggested boxwood to add nice bold, dark, glossy foliage. When making arrangements, the gardener should cut the stems on the diagonal (for more surface area) and get the stems into warm water as quickly as possible to prevent wilting. Several members suggested adding aspirin or a small amount of chorine to the vase to make flowers last longer. Mary Ann suggested gripping the entire arrangement, lifting, and then simply setting them back down into the vase of new, warm water to keep flowers fresh. In club business Rhonda read the minutes, Deb revealed our bank balance and plans were made to setup a booth for the October Festival downtown. Also arrangements were made to purchase mums, pumpkins, and gourds to decorate the pots in the town gardens. Ruth provided refreshments which included chocolate chip cookies and yogurt filled with blueberries and strawberries. [minutes]
[click to enlarge group photo]
Members begin to arrive on an evening where the weather was just perfect.
At the first table the arranging begins.
This table of arrangers is really "going to town"
Help from the expert!
Although darkness has befallen, we are still at it.
Even a freshly-cut finger couldn't slow down Ruth as she admires her creation.
The "fruits" of our labor!