7th March, 2022

Hello all,

The lovely basket arrangement, above, was made by Nicole McDonald. I'm giving each one of my advanced students the task of picking the class theme for the next few lessons. For our last lesson it was Nicole's turn and she picked 'A Basket Arrangement using Seasonal Materials'. The requirement of seasonal materials adds a considerable degree of difficulty. Although it is easy to find seasonal flowers, it's much harder to find accompanying branches or leaves that are only available this season. Nicole used nandina domestica in its autumn colour, Red Fountain grass, sedum, salvia and a small hydrangea.

Vicky made a small arrangement in a basket she bought in Japan when we were there together. She used only the snail creeper, Cochliasanthus caracalla. This plant was grown from a cutting taken from our mother's house, so it has very special significance for us. It also has a delightful fragrance.

When using a basket with a handle it is important to have the handle visible. In Lucy's arrangement, below, you have to look at the photograph closely but you can see that the handle is visible. Lucy used Japanese anemones - flowers and leaves, echinops, crocosmia inflorescence and yellow dahlias.

Bredenia had a large flat basket which required large materials. Fortunately her hawthorn branches with berries were quite big. She painstakingly removed all the leaves. She then added sedum, alstroemeria.

Below is my simple arrangement. I used a basket without handles because I wanted to use the pinellia pedatisecta leaf, which is seasonal and whose form would not allow for a handle. With it I used cosmos and Japanese anemones and phlox.

Wendy's curriculum lesson was 'The Shape of the Container'. She used the ubiquitous but very useful agapanthus and roses.

Shaneen's curriculum lesson was 'Dried, Bleached or Coloured Material'. She used three dried, bird's nest fern fronds and statice in a ceramic container with a slit at the front.

Mary's curriculum lesson was 'Massed Expression'. She made a mass of three different materials - several hydrangeas, trimmed umbrella grass heads and geranium flowers. She, then, joined all three in one large mass. The heavy, ceramic container dictated the need for a large mass.

Bye for now,

Emily