Monmouth Floral Society was delighted to welcome Elizabeth Gordon from Gower as their guest for the 50th anniversary meeting.

Elizabeth is a NAFAS demonstrator and area chair, who was presenting “From the Potting Shed” and there was an excellent turnout for this milestone Golden Anniversary celebration.

1.The first design was asymmetrical and based in an antique galvanised watering can, using dogwood, rolled phormiums, rubus tricolor, hosta “Spilt milk”, pittosporum.

To this she added a large stem of green orchids and green hypericum .

Apparently hypericum is extremely easy to strike, directly into the garden.

The final display was enhanced with a smaller watering can and matching design.

2. A lovely old wooden planter. This was a foam-free design and had several large test tubes fixed to the sides and covered with hessian.

Pea sticks were used to give a strong horizontal line.

Sprays of Stipa Gigantea, double yellow lilies, blue agapanthus and sunflowers, eryngium and alchemilla mollis were inserted into the tubes and the final very modern design was dedicated to the Ukraine.

A second smaller matching arrangement was added to the display.

3. The summer border was represented by a lovely wooden flower box filled with old dried oasis blocks as a rise for a tray of fresh wet oasis.

All British grown flowers were used for this lovely arrangement: pink hydrangeas, mauve gladioli, purple larkspur, pink and purple stocks, dark pink alstromeria, Belle roses, pink hypericum and sweet peas donated by a member of the society.

A good tip was shared for the conditioning of roses, particularly for supermarket roses which can droop very quickly.

This is due to air bubbles collecting in the stems and prevents water rising to the flower head. Cut one inch off the bottom of the stems and plunge them into one inch of boiling water in a jug.

Count to 60 (vital) then remove and plunge into a jug of very cold water. Leave for two hours and the flowers will last much longer.

4. A large galvanised flower bucket was the base for this highly original display, also foam-free.

Around the bucket were 2 x 2 very large elastic bands.

Inserted into and through the bands were tall stems of grass and pink larkspur all around the bucket.

Assorted foliage of eucalyptus, rosemary, Cappucino roses, and finally five stems of pink proteas.

Finally the bands were covered with a brown ribbon and the bucket placed in a large flat dish of water.

This design can be adapted for any size from a jam jar to a bucket.

5. The final design was a large wooden crate placed on its end and with a heavy weight inside for balance.

At the front of the crate a large potato sieve was wired on. On the top was a tray of oasis and which formed the base of a beautiful hanging arrangement to represent the Golden Anniversary.

Stephanandra, bergenia, pittosporum and hostas to which were added gold gerberas, double yellow lilies, yellow calla lilies, alchemilla mollis, yellow roses and cream hypericum.

Inside the sieve was a smaller matching arrangement as a finishing touch.

The chairman, Tineke Deuss, invited Eileen Williams to give a Vote of Thanks.

The arrangements were then raffled off and everyone retired for Strawberries and Cream with shortbread.

The next Open Meeting of Monmouth Floral Society will be held on Wednesday, 10th August at Bridges. The demonstrator will be Sally Taylor from Gloucester area with her theme “Sallying

Forth Again”. Doors open at 1.45 and all visitors are welcome.

Irene Dennis-Jones