How to create your own bouquets and centerpieces
Piscataqua Garden Club members created double works of art: arranging flowers in vessels by New Hampshire potters.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying “Earth laughs in flowers.” With summer making its way to New Hampshire, it’s easier than ever to smile at a beautiful floral arrangement and imagine the happiness that created it.
These bouquets graced the Museums of Old York’s Contained and Arranged exhibit last summer, created by members of the Piscataqua Garden Club in vessels crafted by New Hampshire ceramic artists (and loaned by the George Marshall Store Gallery in York, Maine).
“What a wonderful challenge to the imagination,” says garden club member Barclay Jackson. “This is very different
from other flower shows where we often are given a theme with restrictions of some sort. Here we were given the initial choice of what container called to us, so to speak, and then to express that initial attraction however we liked.”
It’s easy to see Emerson and the Earth smiling through these flowers.
How to Arrange Bouquets
Piscataqua Garden Club members offer the following tips for creating beautiful bouquets:
• Think of the shape of the arrangement you want. It’s usually best to put in the tall pieces first.
• Usually the largest flowers go in the center and bottom part of the arrangement; lighter and airier ones on the outside.
• Be inspired by the container—let it drive your color, height and texture choices.
• Don’t crowd the flowers in—leave room for the light.
• Fill the vase with uncooked black beans to support the flower stems.
