Ayr midsummer floral art meeting

Jul 11 2008

THE JUNE meeting of Ayr and District Floral Art Club was held in Alloway Church Hall when Derek Armstrong, Cumbria, gave a fabulous interpretation of a Midsummer’s Medley. Mr Armstrong is a national demonstrator and judge and he delighted his audience with his sense of humour and larger than life designs which could be reduced in size or adapted for any setting.

The emphasis was on the value of foliage in a welcome arrangement in which fatsia, euonymous, ferns, acer and fornium were combined with yellow artemis roses and a creamy coloured rambler rose on two metal rings set one above the other and linked by artificial rubber vine. The vibrancy of plum coloured peonies was eye-catching when blended with cerise roses, yellow sedum, green anthuriums and chrysanthemums, choisya, large aspidistra leaves and indoor asparagus fern in a low stone garden and simplicity was the keynote of an up-to-date design in which two wooden blocks provided the foundations for individual, pliable metal rods each with a glass tube attached, each holding one apricot calla lily, small pieces of green and copper foliages and manipulated steel grass.

A wow factor was epitomised by the circular format chosen for Outside Entertaining with its central placement of tall pink agua roses and fornium leaves surrounded by large pink hydrangea heads, beech and spruce set on an outsize martini glass containing tiny blue lights and decorated with single roses insmall glass bottles hanging on gilded chains.

Mr Armstrong ended his demonstration with a willow pedestal wrapped in lime green material in which were brought together the strong dramatic effect of cycas, hosta, fatsia, white-beam and manipulated giant fornium and the subtle colouring of lavender, delphiniums, pink canterbury bells and green calla lilies and hydrongea heads.

A vote of thanks was proposed by past chairman, Christine Bryson, Ayr.