The 55-year-old garden club of Maben enjoyed a fun program Oct. 15 featuring Monty King from Flowers by the Bunch of Starkville arranging flowers in footballs, real and ceramic pumpkins and a slab board.
King, who was welcomed by October leader Pat Harpole, entertained the ladies by talking about her life growing up in rural Mississippi and how she got into being a floral designer.
Throughout her demonstration, she gave some helpful hints to those who would likely ever arrange flowers. Hint No. 1 was about soaking oasis: drop your block of oasis into the water and let it sink on its own. Do not force it under the water or you will have dry pockets.
Hint No. 2 was to cut fresh flowers in the early morning and then submerge stems into water with pickling alum in it. Hint No. 3 involves wired ribbon, which is easier to make bows as it holds its shape better. Hint No. 4 has to do with checking to see if roses are fresh (commercial): squeeze the bottom of the roses — it needs to be firm.
Monty designed one arrangement in a fresh white pumpkin that featured bells of Ireland, Safari Sunset, green hydrangea, red roses and sunflowers. This arrangement was donated as a door prize and was won by Sandra Bishop.
The second arrangement was designed in a ceramic pumpkin, which she filled with battery-operated twinkle lights surrounding a jar of water. This fresh arrangement featured white hydrangeas, Asiatic lilies, green foliage and fall yellow daisies, to which she added a wired ribbon bow.
Her next arrangement was made in a real football, which she deflated, cut the top and poked the bottom up into the ball so it would sit level. This design featured leatherleaf foliage, Safari Sunset foliage, white hydrangea, full maroon mums and eucalyptus foliage, all accented with a three-loop bow.
Her last (and most impressive to me) was one made on an oak slab with a small depression. She lined it first with scraps of ragged burlap overlaid with battery-operated twinkly lights. She layered it with pinecones, gourds, red berries, small pumpkins, hedge apples, nandina leaves, fake golden rod, yellow roses and sunflowers, plus a swirl of variegated grass folded and wired and stuck in the arrangement. This was truly a garden club program.
After the program various reports were made. Dottie Dewberry placed the Yard of the Month sign at Jamie’s Body Shop. Martha McMinn reported that the club had a good calendar sale with 300-plus calendars sold. The November garden therapy project was briefly discussed; club members will deliver fruit sacks. The civic beautification committee reported that two boxes need new shrubs, and maybe they need to be moved to a position where they can be taken care of. No action was taken.
Door prizes of croton plants were won by JoAnn Willers, Glenda Dobbs and Jeanette McMurry.
The devotion and the blessing for the meal were delivered by Jeanette McMurry.
The meeting was dismissed until Nov. 19 at the Maben Public Library at 11:30 a.m.
