ON the May 17, thirty-three members and ten visitors gathered at Bishampton Village Hall to welcome Kath Lee back to Pershore Flower Club from her home in Whitland, south Wales. Although she moved away from Pershore many years ago, she has retained her membership of our Club. Kath’s demonstration was entitled “All on a Summer’s Day” – or the Chelsea Experience – as she walked us through the Victorian exhibition set up by our NAFAS area at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show. The first design represented that which had been displayed on top of the conservatory using aspidistra leaves and conifer foliage with blooms of pink rhododendron, pink carnations, pink gerberas and finally magnificent phalaenopsis orchids. Secondly, a stumpery had been created to one side of the conservatory and amongst the wood she did an arrangement of ferns, variegated ivy leaves, blooms of viburnum and white lilac with all leaves removed with a tall iris leaf in the centre. She added stems of solomon’s seal with large white peonies and tall white roses making a beautiful design. Her third arrangement was created within a hollow orb using red leaf curly kale together with coral and bright pink gerberas – all making a striking design as shown in the photograph. Kath’s ‘herbery’ was set up on the platform and to this she added a Victorian posy created with yellow roses, freesias and gypsophila. In order to represent the herbaceous border, Kath arranged two small designs using traditional herbaceous plants such as iris, stocks, sweet Williams, arum lilies, hostas, hellebore leaves – and then produced two more similar arrangements from behind the curtain. All this made a beautiful herbaceous border along the front of the platform also as shown in the photograph. Her final design showing what the NAFAS ladies had created for the urns in the centre of the lawn consisted of small branches of a pear tree surrounded with mostly foliage including blue spruce from her own garden, trailing ivy and trailing rubus, fatsia leaves and branches of juniper. She added a few pears on kebab sticks and hung home-made moss pears on the branches. For colour, she added red tulips and beautiful pink lilies.

Throughout the whole demonstration, she recounted all the processes involved in creating an exhibit for Chelsea which took two weeks and kept us amused with her fascinating stories. It was a most enjoyable evening and the lucky raffle ticket winners were delighted to take their designs home.

Next month’s meeting on Wednesday, June 21, will start at 7pm to have tea, coffee and cake before Laura Leong of Kingswinford gives her demonstration titled “Contemporary Craft Work” to which visitors are very welcome.

DINAH WOOD