As our gardens lose colour an interest in the winter it is still possible to brighten up the gloomiest of winter days by having an attractive indoor flower arrangement. So a very timely and practical demonstration was given by Margaret Finch to show how it is possible to make the most from what remains in the garden or that can be cheaply purchased from the supermarket. Over the course of the evening members were shown how to make six very different flower arrangements combining flowers with Christmas decorations, decorative tins, twigs, fir cones, dried leaves, Hypericum berries, fruit and candles.
As a retired professional florist Margaret had the knack of making the art of flowering arranging appear so very simple, whilst providing an informative and amusing commentary. There was lots of advice that included how to re-use Oasis by keeping it moist in a plastic bag, reviving rose stems by standing them in water up to their heads, keeping carnations warm, encouraging fir cones to open by placing them on a warm radiator and adding a drop of bleach to the water when watering flower arrangements in an Oasis, which should be done every day. There was also some practical advice for flower gardeners such as not cutting the stems of Verbena bonariensis back to ground level until Macrh, as their hollow stems traps water that causes them to rot.
At the end of the demonstration one of the flower arrangements was donated as a raffle prize and the remainder were sold off by a Dutch auction which raised over £30 for the a local charity supported by the Society.
Margaret was assisted by Francis Wingate throughout the evening.