The monthly meeting was held on Monday, September 5 in the Tremayne Hall giving anyone with a love of flowers the opportunity to sample a club meeting and enjoy watching a demonstration by an experienced flower arranger.

It was very satisfying to have a large number of visitors join members to welcome Anne Hopkins who had travelled from Bideford to share her ideas on “As You Like It” – a mix of traditional and contemporary designs all of which could easily be adapted for any occasion.

Anne, a previous chairman of South-West NAFAS Group, a very talented flower arranger and teacher, was part of the team staging an exhibit at a Chelsea Flower Show as well as being involved in the prestigious NAFAS Golden Anniversary Celebration in Westminster Abbey. The audience were kept fascinated with her experiences, besides learning more about how she planned and executed her designs. Her five designs varied from a striking display of sun flowers around a rustic wreath to a double placement of glass containers holding delicate arrangements of white roses, carnations and ‘Grace’ - a white anthurium looking like Angel’s Wings - nestling in a variety of green foliage.

A cream wrought-iron birdbath proved the ideal container for a traditional pedestal-style arrangement with an attractive mixture of dark copper beech leaves and hedgerow ferns providing the perfect background for a sumptuous amalgamation of blue and pink delphiniums together with shocking pink gerberas and carnations interspersed with blue eryngiums.

A total contrast was achieved by a simple combination using green flowers against two pale upright cocoa spathes. A line of brilliant green shamrock chrysanthemums was complimented by a similar line of pale green carnations, above a blend of foliage with coiled green wire giving the necessary sense of movement.

Best viewed from above, Anne created a design which could be adapted for any size bowl allowing a variety of pink blooms to be placed around the edge, supported by a wire wreath ring, with space for floating candles, if required, and flat wire loops giving the finishing touch.

These superb arrangements were then raffled and Anne also judged the club competition: 1, Margaret Underwood; 2, Sylvia Ollerenshaw; 3, Elizabeth Doidge.

The next meeting will be held at the usual venue of the Ord Statter Pavilion at 7.30pm on Monday, October 3 and new members will be most welcome. The Annual General Meeting is expected to take about 20 minutes followed by a demonstration by Ian and Andrew Facey McLeod. The competition is “Autumn Continental” - further information on all club activities available from Jean Frith (01326 372071) or Margaret Underwood (01326 312499).