Boston Flora

Month: December 2009

  • A Merry Christmas to All from The Garden Club of the Back Bay

    This traditional wreath with red bow, made by member Marian Brunck, is our Christmas Day wreath of the day.  May you all have a warm and wonderful holiday.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay – Sophie’s Wreath

    When member Linda Zukowski brought her granddaughter Sophie in to The First Lutheran Church of Boston to help choose ribbon for the family wreath, little Sophie immediately spotted a glittery green and red polka dot bow.  She also loves birds.  Co-President Jackie Blombach took Sophie’s wreath design very seriously, and the finished product was everything we could have wished for!

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – Magnolia and Lotus

    Magnolia leaves, some with a dusting of gold paint, set off the beauty of golden pine cones and lotus pods in this fabulous wreath created by Laurie Carter Noble.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Wreath of the Day – Ribbons of Every Color

    Our ribbon selection is extensive, but we must warn you that each year the supply changes, so we can never promise an exact duplicate of a wreath or bow you may see on this web site.  The dark gold pictured here is especially handsome.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Wreath of the Day – Matched Pairs

    We have to admit, we rather dread the matched pair orders.  Getting two (and sometimes three or four) wreaths to coordinate is a challenge.  Is one bow too high?  Did we run out of a certain seed pod?  Is there enough ribbon for all the bows?  Somehow, we do them, and we do them very, very well, as these wreaths designed by former President Margaret Pokorny demonstrate.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – Light and Bright

    Often, wreaths are hung in dimly lit vestibules or hallways, and must be designed with that in mind.  Francine Crawford used lime green ribbon and plenty of gold for this wreath, destined for a shadowed entrance.

  • Wednesdays, January 20, 27, and February 3, 7:00 – 9:00 pm – Flower Arranging: Simple and Tasteful

    Indoor floral arrangements during the winter months are most successful when you incorporate flowers or branches that are interesting to look at. Winter is not the season to focus on bunches of blooming flowers, but rather to create airy, simple, and tasteful arrangements. In this class you will discuss  choices for long-lasting winter arrangements, the use of unusual vases, and which flowers will work best. You’ll practice a variety of floral arrangement styles, using everyday and unusual flowers and branches for tall and thin, or short and subtle looks. You will discuss equipment and reference materials used by florists, how to pair your arrangement with a room, and how to best care for your flowers before, during, and after they have been arranged. Please bring a few vases, a pair of scissors, glue sticks, and a glue gun to class. The instructor will provide the fresh flowers and branches, low-floral dishes, floral tape, and wires. A $50 materials fees is payable to the instructor at the first class.  This series of three classes, to be held Wednesday January 20, January 27, and February 3 at Brookline High School, is sponsored by Brookline Adult Education, and the fee for the three classes is $85.  You may register on line at www.brooklineadulted.org, or by calling 617-730-2700.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreath – Gold and Copper

    Clients often challenge us with special requests.  In this instance, member Laurie Carter Noble interpreted “gold bow, gold and copper accents” in an especially exquisite manner.

  • Division II Seeks Designers for Next March’s Flower Show

    We reprint in its entirety a call for designers sent out by Massachusetts Horticultural Society.  For those floral arrangers out there, this is an opportunity to shine:

    If you were at Blooms! last March, one of the indelible memories of that event is likely the spectacular floral interpretation of a dragon created by renowned designer Arabella Dane.  Her colorful, imposing dragon seemed to leap out at passersby, hardly the stereotype of a ‘flower arrangement’.  It drew large crowds, many of them drawn by word of mouth from offices above the exhibit space.  “You gotta go down and see this thing,” people told one another.

    Ms. Dane’s creation was part of Blooms!, of course, but was mounted within a segment of Blooms! known as ‘Division II’, or MassHort’s ‘Open Class’.  She was responding to a challenge to ‘interpret the gates of Chinatown’.  And interpret them, she did.

    For the past quarter century, MassHort has divided its floral design competition into two pieces.  Division I adheres to the rules of National Garden Clubs, Inc., (NGC) and it produces memorable designs.  But near the top of Division I’s rules is a requirement that an exhibitor must be a member in good standing of an NGC-affiliated club.

    “MassHort created Division II to encourage amateurs who weren’t members of NGC clubs to participate,” says Joyce Bakshi, chair of Division II for the 2010 edition of Blooms!, which will be held in conjunction with the Boston Flower & Garden Show in March.  “The Society wanted to find a way to be more inclusive.”

    Joining a garden club wouldn’t seem to be a huge hurdle to a would-be designer, but not all designers are gardeners or have the time to join a club, and not all garden clubs are affiliates of NGC.  Also, some very good designers – including many professionals – have careers that preclude joining a club that meets on, say, Thursday mornings.

    “Your next-door neighbor may be a very talented amateur,” Joyce says.  “This is their opportunity to get a foothold in the very exciting world of floral design.”

    Both divisions follow the same general rules.  The chairman or an appointee writes a ‘schedule’ which becomes the law of the show.  The schedule contains a number of ‘classes’, with a minimum of four entries per class.  Division I’s Class 101, for example, is, “‘Romantic Abandon’, a design in the manner of the Victorian Period staged on a pedestal 36 inches high and 14 inches in diameter”.  To a floral designer, ‘Victorian Period’ is all the description needed to understand what kind of arrangement is acceptable… it’s all in that NGC rulebook.

    Division II follows the guidelines of Garden Clubs of America, or GCA.  A casual look at floral designs following NGC and GCA rules might not reveal much difference though, to a judge, the variations might be apparent.  The biggest difference is the club joining requirement. The schedule for Division II on the MassHort website (you can find it here) calls it an ‘Open Class’, which means anyone can enter, including that talented neighbor of yours.

    Division II allows designers to express their creativity in ways not allowed under NGC rules.  One isn’t better than the other, just different.  Many designers enter both divisions on different years.

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is affiliated with NGC, so our members may exhibit in either Division.  For those of you who follow this site but are not members of a Garden Club, Division II is for you!

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Wreath – Silver Bells

    Today’s wreath, designed by Susan Juretschke, epitomizes the holiday classic “Silver Bells.”