Open Evening - Demonstrator: Coral Gardiner Title: A Country Christmas
Members and visitors enjoyed our last virtual meeting of the year, a Christmas presentation with National Demonstrator Coral Gardiner and expertly filmed by her daughter Becky.
Coral studied horticulture and on qualifying she started a gardening business but soon found she was doing more with flowers than gardening. This has led her to winning a Chelsea Gold medal, making a television appearance on Countryfile and working as a designer for flower festivals at the Bishops Palace in Wells.
Coral got everyone into the Christmas Spirit by demonstrating from her family’s barn ‘A Country Christmas’. She started by welcoming us into her home with a beautiful door wreath featuring foliage from garden and hedgerow and enhanced with hydrangea, red roses and gilded foliage. This she suggested also could double up as a seasonal table arrangement.
We were then encouraged to take a walk in the woods and glean from nature utilising cones and fallen branches these she expertly put together with beautiful Amaryllis, berries and gilded foliage.
She then went on to a design that featured an assortment of natural stars on a grid and into this she placed an orchid, proteas, gerberas a few carnations and twinkling lights. The colouring picked up the little robin in hat and scarf at the base of the design.
A large candlestick was used for her Christmas table decoration, beautiful flowers in pinks and purples using baubles feathers and cabbages to link the colours.
Finally she took us to a Ball where everyone wore their finery with black and silver foliage highlighting the beautiful cream roses, orchids and lissianthus. Glittered sticks and sparkly baubles set the scene along with the fabric covered hoops.
Our next meeting will be the AGM on Thursday 20th January 2022, being held virtually via Zoom; Guests are welcome free of charge.
We are hoping to hold the rest of our meetings for 2022 back in the Crookham Memorial Hall. The first meeting there will be on Thursday 17th February, a social event, entitled 'Let's Get Back To Flowers'. Members will received more information nearer the time via the Newsletter. Guests are welcome to attend, please contact info@fleetflowerclub.co.uk for details.