Designing with
Summer's Bounty

Online class conducted via Zoom

Create a summery arrangement using all of the wonderful fruits, vegetables, and flowers available in our mid-Atlantic summer. David Pippin discusses various ways to showcase materials you can gather locally including some surprising and imaginative materials, while demonstrating some different possibilities. Ahead of the class, you receive a list of suggested materials and containers, with tips for gathering materials. Send a picture of your creations to the Garden and we will share them with David and with the class.

Suggested materials:

Container:  something shallow (3 – 4”); can be ceramic/pottery, wooden (with liner), basket (with liner).  No clear glass!

Foliage: search your garden (or a friend’s) for any of the following: Hosta, Hellebore (Lenten Rose), Aucuba, Camellia, ornamental grasses, Liriope, Dusty Miller, ferns like Kimberly Queen or Boston, Poet’s Laurel or florist foliage such as Pittosporum, Tree Fern, Seeded Eucalyptus, Leatherleaf Fern, Ruscus

Flowers:  garden flowers such as Bee Balm, Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Zinnia, Hydrangea, Lavender, Hosta, Yarrow, Lily (Asiatic or Oriental; not Daylily) and/or florist flowers such as Gerbera Daisy, Alstroemeria, Lily, Rose, Daisy Mums, Goldenrod, Bupleurum, Statice, Larkspur

Produce:  peppers, small squash, small eggplant, potatoes, small – medium onions, okra; don’t use anything that is soft like tomatoes

Additional materials: water-absorbent floral foam or chicken wire, water-proof floral tape, wooden skewers. NOTE: to make sure you have the correct floral foam, you should buy from a florist shop. Foam sold in craft stores is often for dried or silk arrangements.

Quantity of foliage and flowers will depend on the size of your container.  Plan on 15 – 20 stems of foliage, depending on their size/fullness; 15 – 20 stems of flowers, depending on their size/ fullness; 5 – 6 pieces of produce, depending on the size