July 2012

You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2012.

best-visionary-garden-untie-the-wind

This innovative garden won the award for Best Visionary Garden and a gold medal.  It was designed by Sheena Seeks who has previously won several RHS medals. I found this a really interesting design, and I love the twisted silver pipes.

untie-the-wind-tatton-flower-show

Visionary gardens are experimental and push the push of traditional gardens.  Sheena’s garden is inspired by the shape of sound waves and the magical qualities of music.

untie-the-wind-tatton-flower-show-2012

The pipe that runs through the centre of the garden takes you on a journey of air passing through a wind instrument.  Untie the wind comes from Macbeth, in which the witches are said to have the power to ‘untie the winds’.

Tags: , , , ,

the-mornflake-garden

Today I went to the press day for the RHS Tatton Flower Show.  It was quite a wet morning but that didn’t spoil it, it just made it a little harder to get good photos for the blog.  One of my favourite gardens has been awarded Best Show Garden and a gold medal.  The Mornflake Garden was designed by award winning garden designer Janine Crimmins.

tatton-flower-show-mornflake-garden

It celebrates the history of oat milling and also represents the more progressive aspects of the industry.  The garden features a central weir and bands of dry stone wall that spread out from the centre, reflecting ripples of a mill pool.

tatton-flower-show-2012-best show-garden

The metal wind sculptures and weir represent the role of water and wind power in the milling industry.  Mornflake has recently introduced a wind turbine which provides 25% of the companies energy needs, as part of their commitment to become carbon neutral.  I thought The Mornflake Garden was wonderful, even in today’s wet weather it looked beautiful.  A simple but very effective design.

best-in-show-mornflake-garden

I’ll be featuring articles on Tatton Flower Show all week,  I’ll continue tomorrow with the rest of the medals awarded at the show.  The floristry competitions take place later in the week.

Tags: , , ,

kildare-village-floral-design

This fabulous living catwalk has been designed by four-time Chelsea Young Florist of the Year, Joe Massie.  The catwalk is the highlight of Kildare Village’s Chic Summer Festival event.  There is a programme of events throughout July which include musical performances, artisan food and floral inspired cocktails.

floral-couture

Joe’s installation features three floral dresses surrounded by a carpet of flowers and plants.  The designs reflect aspects of an Irish Summer, one dress is inspired by cornflowers, one by butterflies and one by daisies.  Daisies are particularly relevant as the event’s ambassador is Daisy Lowe, she launched the event on 5th July.

Kildare-floral-pagoda

Joe’s team also decorated the performance stage and food marquee.  The exquisite designs were very labour intensive and took a team of 8 florists, five days to complete.  The catwalk will be in the open air for a month, so a combination of real and artificial materials were used to ensure the designs look perfect throughout the event.

kildare-village-floral-couture

The dresses contain fresh grasses, succulents, echeverias, lichen and branches. The plants and flowers used were roses, dahlia, hydrangea, marguerite daisies, gyposphilia, lavender, cornflowers, and cosmos.  The installation can be viewed until Sunday 29th July, at Kildare Village outlet shopping, Ireland.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

the-black-rose-tatton-park

The RHS Tatton Flower Show starts next week.  The floral design studio never disappoints, although I am biased being a florist.  Look out for inspirational and ground breaking designs from florists, flower arrangers and colleges.  It promises to be an exciting week for floristry as the BFA hosts several competitions showcasing the best of British floristry talent, including the BFA Young Florist of the Year, WorldSkills UK and the BFA Shop Window Competition.

floral-hat

WorldSkills UK intermediate is on Wednesday and the advanced class on Thursday.  The Shop Window competition takes place on Friday, the theme is ‘My Dream Wedding’, there is sure to be some fabulous bridal designs on display.  A college competition has also been introduced this year, themed ‘Flight of Fancy’ to tie in with Tatton Park’s Art Biennial this year.

The Young Florist of the Year competition runs on Saturday and Sunday, it’s a qualifying heat for florists aged 25 and under, to win at place at the grand final in October.  The theme is ‘Fabulous Floral Fashion’; visitors are able to watch the action as competitors create their designs live.  They will be making a hand –tied design, free expression piece, body accessory and a surprise item.

floral-arrangement-tatton-park

Top florists are demonstrating on the design stage each day including Ian Lloyd, Amanda Canning, Mark Entwistle, Traci Rowbottom and Sarah Cunningham.  Demos take place at 11.30am, 1pm, 2.30pm and 3.30.  If the demonstrations make you feel creative, you can try your hand at creating a floral work of art, at the ‘Have a go’ workshops which are open to anyone.

I’m visiting Tatton show next week, so I’ll post some photos of the designs and competition results.

Tags: , ,

birthday-flower-cake

Image: Flower Council of Holland

What do you buy the person who has everything? Flowers of course.  These floral cakes make ideal birthday presents, you can enjoy them for for at least a week and they are calorie free. The cake above features green beans and radishes amongst the flowers.

flower-cupcake

Image: Flower Council of Holland

Floral cakes tend to be made with chrysanthemums or carnations as their uniform shape works very well en masse and they are long lasting.  They can also be used as table arrangements for parties or a centrepiece on a buffet table.  Floral cupcakes look cute grouped on a cake stand too.  They can be made in silicone cake cases which have the added benefit of being waterproof, so floral foam will hold water better.

floral-slice-of-cake

Image: newarkflowershoppe.com

This zesty slice of floral cake has been placed on specially shaped dish, but any decorative plate or tray could be used. A group of two or three cake slices on a cake stand would make a fun centrepiece.

Tags: , ,

« Older entries § Newer entries »