Flower Arranging

Today, my schedule once again allowed me to attend Global Gathering.  Although the crowd was smaller than it often is, several people came for the first time, including a Spanish lady and her daughter. Our activity was led by a British lady named Lucy, who demonstrated flower arranging. Her young son, Freddie, came with her, and he seemed to enjoy her demonstration, despite wanting her to pay more attention to him. After someone handed him a snack and something to color, his mom was able to precede without further interruption.

Lucy's arrangements were quite different than what I was expecting. One was a hand-tied bouquet, and the other was a centerpiece consisting of a candle surrounded by flowers and greenery. For the centerpiece, she used a style called blocking, which meant that she used four different plants and did not mix them together. Thus, there were four distinct patches of color. The candle was held in place with toothpicks, something that all of us in attendance found quite clever. 

When making the hand-tied bouquet, she explained the importance of planning and getting everything ready before starting, since one has only a single free hand to use after beginning. She told us that the proper way a make the bouquet is to place flowers between one's thumb and index finger one at a time, and then turn all of the flowers each time a new one is added. This helps the arrangement keep its shape. She also showed us how to add flowers to fill in gaps at the end, and then how to tie the final bouquet. Although I was not a huge fan of the finished product, I definitely learned some things from her demonstration.