Club Members Transplant North Window Plants
On Wednesday evening, October 16, 2013, Cynthia Lewis, Pat Artis and Rebecca Dinsmore (North Window Steering Committee) held a propagating/transplanting workshop at Manet Community Center. (The Wollaston Garden Club has been accepted and will participate again in the Boston Flower Show in the Amateur Horticulture Structures (Small Bay Window) competition in March of 2014.)
Participating club members brought north window and other plants to the workshop that had summered in our gardens; they also brought appropriately sized terracotta pots and glass containers. Cynthia Lewis, horticulture chair provided soil, pebbles, and charcoal. We were excited at the nice variety we had of low light plants, and spent a good amount of time deciding which plant to put into which container. Rebecca kept a record of which north window plants members were growing.
Plants were pruned carefully and many of them divided to fit into terrariums. Rebecca provided us with moss she had collected; the steering committee decided to research local moss vendors and purchase more types of specimen moss for the North Window. Club members were reminded to spray plants that had been outdoors with an equal parts solution of water, rubbing alcohol, and dish detergent to prevent insect and disease infestation.
Cuttings from plants were shared and everyone left with a nice collection of beautifully potted plants.
Club Members Enjoy Creating Boxwood Table-Top Trees
On December 9, 2012, Joanne Caccavale, led a group of twelve of us in a Holiday Boxwood Tree Workshop at her design studio in South Weymouth, MA. Interest in the workshop had been high and the workshop was filled months before the event; members paid $15 for the instruction and the materials provided. Joanne is, a past president of Weymouth Garden Club, a Sogetsu Ikebana teacher, and an honorary member of our garden club. She has been teaching Ikebana to a number of us (Pat A, Ruth G, Jo C, Hyonah A, Gail M, Marcia S, & Gail M) on the first Wednesday of the month for the past four years. Jo C and Pat A assisted Joanne by soaking oasis and cutting boxwood tips from the 50 shrub boxwood hedge in her garden. They bunched the tips with a rubber band and each workshop participant was given three bunches to work with. The club purchased green plastic containers and oasis for each participant. The soaked oasis was cut down to 2/3’s size, its four edges shaved slightly, and waterproof tape applied to hold it firmly in place. Joanne instructed us to start with a triangle - fan shape, and build from there creating a natural looking tree. Participants brought ornaments and natural materials, and shared ideas for where to purchase miniature embellishments for their finished trees. Joanne loaned many of us containers to house our boxwood trees. Two trees were made to be raffled off at the December monthly meeting. Everyone left excited about the beautiful tree they had created.
“Colors of Autumn” Capsule Functional Table Setting Workshop
On September 26 2012, garden club members met at Houghs Neck Community Center for a Wednesday evening table setting workshop. Participants were asked to bring the table setting components, and for a fee, the club supplied the flowers, oasis and container. Pat Artis led the workshop with a discussion of the design principles, how table settings are judged, and characteristics/components needed for functional table settings in general, and then introduced the group to place setting using a tray. The group commented how the club’s hospitality committee worked at monthly meetings designing the refreshment table with the basic buffet/table setting principles, perhaps without really knowing it.
Using mums, sunflowers, kangaroo paws, wax flowers, and solidago in colors of rust, gold, orange, and burgundy, the participants created the design element (floral arrangement) in proportion to the space allotted (frame of reference) for their specific place setting. We critiqued our individual components for our table setting. We were all pretty pleased with the beautiful fall arrangements that were created. We are looking forward to participating the “club’s “holiday brunch” tray table setting in December and Division II of the Boston Flower and Garden Show in March.
Workshop Description: Join us for a hands-on floral design workshop for novices and beginners in which participants will learn the basic elements and principles of good floral design, led by club designers. This workshop series is being led by Pat Artis, graduate of Cass School of Floral Design, 4th year auditing student of the Flower Show Judge’s School of the National Garden Club, Inc, and Second Level student of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.
“The Colors of Autumn” A capsule, functional table design for one person,
incorporating fall colors into the table setting design
(on a table cloth of sage green provided by club).
Good sources for acquiring these dinnerware items: your own or borrowed dinnerware, Goodwill, Marshall’s, TJ Max, Home Goods, Christmas Tree Shop, and Pier 1 (amazing array of napkins/placemats).
Internet ideas and pictures on how to compile elements/arrange elements of your table setting: There are a number of web sites which show samples of “flower show – capsule, functional table design” that might help you visualize this design task better.
www.lavgc.org/SpecialInterests/Floral/TableSettings.html
http://gci.esiteasp.com/garden_glories/floral_design6.htm
http://www.schuylervillegardenclub.org/testimonials.html
http://theoutdoorgardeners.org/April's-Designs.php
http://gcfm.org/FlowerShows/ShowPhotos/tabid/135/AlbumID/406-14/Page/1/Default.aspx
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