Members and non-members of Pershore Flower Club all met at Number 8 in Pershore for the annual open meeting on Thursday, the 16th November when the Chairman welcomed Elizabeth Graham for her “Gather Ye Holly” demonstration. As Elizabeth has a real thing about holly, she told us that she would be using many different varieties of holly during her demonstration. Her first design featured two silver birch candlesticks positioned on a long piece of bark. She used blue Korean pine, mahonia, variegated holly, osmanthus, a holly called “good taste” and silver fatsia heads to which she added two magnificent burgundy-coloured cymbidium orchids and beautiful red Rhodos roses cut short and placed amongst the fatsia heads. Her second design she called a construction work using twigs of hazel forming a triangle which fitted into a clear glass vase. Three sprigs of Ilex (holly) ‘sparkleberry’ were wrapped round and tied to the hazel and then three large upright blooms of amaryllis were inserted through the wire mesh base of the triangle. Her next design – her Christmas tree arrangement – using Korean pine again, a yellow-edged holly from her mother’s garden, very long stems of ‘red eagle’ roses which have no thorns placed diagonally in layers against a background of gold twinkling upright twigs. She added ordinary wild holly with fabulous berries, small sprigs of variegated holly and a few gold sprayed fir cones.

For her fourth design, Elizabeth used a large urn with an open trellis design which she lined with a lime green light fabric. She used fatsia leaves at the base of the arrangement then added heads of ‘evening primrose’ which she had sprayed gold and these were placed against tall stems of red cornus. She used holly berries in gold and coral and then holly with yellow berries. To continue the gold theme, yellow roses called ‘good times’ were positioned to emulate the trellis pattern of the urn and finally two sumptuous ‘old gold’ orchids across the middle of the design. Next, Elizabeth brought out from behind the curtain a spectacular branch of ivy attached to a tall upright stand. To this she attached sprigs of purple cornus, branches of ivy which hung down from the ivy stand, and sprigs of holly, fatsia leaves, white ‘naomi’ roses, green hypericum berries, blooms of white Phalaenopsis, known as moth orchids, sprigs of ‘snow roses’ and just a few white chrysanths. Her final design used a tall square stand with oasis at the base and on the top. She used fatsia leaves, branches of rubus tricolor to which she had added a little sparkle, large sprigs of ivy, Italian ruscus with real Christmas tree branches and aspidistra leaves. She produced magnificent long stems of red anthuriums which formed an arc over the foliage and then added red ‘naomi’ roses and ‘burgos’ roses cut short and placed in the centre of the two arrangements. By magic a similar stand featuring the same exotic blooms appeared and was placed alongside the first! The one I did earlier!

The whole evening was a triumph and we were all enthralled by her artistic skill and design and use of beautiful foliage and flowers. We hadn’t appreciated how many varieties of holly existed!

Pershore Flower Club has arranged a course of flower-arranging classes to be held at Bishampton Village Hall on the fourth Thursday of each month from 2 to 4 p.m. starting on the 25th January. Anyone interested should telephone Sheanagh Hickson on 01386 561210. The next Flower Club meeting is on the 21st February at Bishampton Villages Hall when the demonstration will be called ‘Nature of Winter Palette’. All are welcome.

DINAH WOOD