Andover Flower Club

The June meeting of Andover Flower Club welcomed Alison Finch from Blandford Forum whose demonstration was entitled ‘Well Read’.

Using a wonderful variety of flowers and foliage, Alison created arrangements depicting some of her well read books. While designing, she regaled members with a synopsis of each story explaining how her choice of flowers and foliage fitted into the plot of the book. Her creations were stunning, taking the audience through a variety of books from ‘Wind in the Willows’ to ‘House in the Woods which is the tale of Laura Ingles Wilder of ‘Little House on the Prairie’ fame. At the end of the meeting several lucky members won the arrangements in a raffle.

The competition piece for members was ‘My Favourite Book’ and a variety of titles were depicted in a very colourful display.

The results were as follows: Novice: 1, Jo Brambley – ‘Water Babies’; 2, Kerry Muir – ‘Four Fires’; 3, Beryl Lawrence –‘How Green Was My Valley’. Intermediate: 1, Jackie Hasler – ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. Advanced: 1, Lillian Pierce – ‘Creative Flower Arranging’; 2, Elizabeth Howard – ‘Gum Boots and Pearls’; Joint 3, Mavis Cotton – ‘The Secret Garden’ and Sandra Oliver – ‘Flower Fairies of the Garden’.

The judge’s choice monthly cup, awarded for the arrangement the judge would most like to take home with her, was won by Lillian Pierce for her stunning display of garden flowers.

The July meeting welcomed Marion Catt from Southampton whose demonstration was entitled ‘Supermarket Dash’.

Beginning with a supermarket mixed bunch of flowers, Marion created a design which fitted into a gift bag as a present for someone. She then created designs reflecting different parts of the supermarket such as the wine department, the bakery and the exotic fruit stand. Throughout her demonstration, Marion’s chatter was very interesting and members were given a number of tips to help them with their flower buying, conditioning and arranging.

The competition piece for members was ‘Flowers and Fruit’ which produced some very colourful entries with the following results: Novice: 1, Jane Boote; 2, Kerry Muir; 3, Cynthia Jeffries. Intermediate: 1, Pete Bowker; 2, Jackie Hasler. Advanced: 1, Sandra Oliver; 2, Lillian Pierce; 3, Brenda Dossett.

The judge’s choice cup, awarded for the entry the judge would most like to take home with her, was won by Sandra Oliver.

For the August meeting, those members who have booked and paid will enjoy the annual lunch to be held at 1pm at St. Ann’s Hall, Suffolk Road, Andover. Lunch will be followed by a film and fun afternoon.

The September meeting will be held at 2pm on 2 September in St. Ann’s Hall and anyone wishing to join the club is welcome to contact Bronda Dossett on 01264 365463 or Sandra Oliver on 01264 353972 for further details.