GARDENING TALKS GIVEN AT WOMEN'S CLUB

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 160, 24 July 1937, Page 13

GARDENING TALKS GIVEN AT WOMEN'S CLUB

Members of the garden cirele of the Hastings Women's Community Club spent an interesting afternoon on Wednesday, when many excellent new ideas were gleaned from the instructive talks given by two Napier visitors, Mrs A. C. Mackie and Mrs W. Harvey. The flowers arranged in the club lounge were especially admired, and at a timo when flowers are so scarce they looked very attractive. .Small bowls^on the tables and a float bowl were arranged with winter roses and maidenhair fern, while the wall baskets were filled with lovely pink japonica. Mrs A. C. Mackie spoke first and described to t'#e members exactly how to grow the standard fuchsias, which are beeoming so very popular for decorative - purposes in one's own h.ome, and garden as well as for displays. As August is the month.to plant the fciny euttings, Mrs Mackie described exactly how this should be done, and named several of the most admired varieties She described also how the standard fuclisias in bloom. can be usetl for very effective displays, several of which 6he had seen when living in Christchurch, and she sugges- , ted to the members tbat they should grow the fuchsias with this idea in view. Mrs Harvey, who is well known for her very artistic exhibits in many of the hortieultural shows, interestyd the members with many hints for their sbow work. She told them tbat when " displaying a decorated basket the exhibit should look like a basket and not like a bowl. Part of the basket should be . seen and it should be arranged from a centyre-high flower and gradually shaped downwards. The speaker said tkat she had had a very clever friend who had given her good advice with her display work. This friend had told her always to strive for something unusual, to try to think of soinething that others would not think of and not to be afraid to put into practice unusual ideas. Mrs Harvey showed the ' members how to refiex a rose, as this very often improved the appearance of the bloom when used in a spray, a posy or a bowl "of flowers, and she also suggested tbat liydrangea flowers were an excellent rest «for fruit in a basket of fruit, The making of a ball of flowers ,was also described by Mrs Harvey, who said that she took some dampened moss, shaped it into a ball and tied it gently into skape with raffia. The flowers were then wired on to the toothpicks which were pushed 'into the moss. Several sprays made by the speaker and brougkt in a Cellopbane' box were shown to the members, and many new ideas were obtained from these very attractive and artistically-made

sprayB. Mrs Harvey had also brought some lovely pink camelias which she arranged in a float bowl? and while doing so she urged the members not to use too many flowers in their exhibits but to aim at skowing off the bowl as well as the flowers. In . conclusion, Mrs Harvey asked members to think out, plan and rehearse their work and to try and strike a new note, because work with originality and inaividuality should always be considered the best. . Many of the members asked questions about the work that interested them most, and these were answered by Mrs Mackie and Mrs Harvey. Later everyone adjourned to the other room for afternoon tea. Among those present were: Mrs K. E. Crompton, I\Irs H. Lovell-Smath, Mrs H. Gilbertson, Mrs A. M. Brodie, Mrs C. Gardner, Miss Mildred Shaw (Balclutha), Miss Cominin, Mtrs A. Oliver, Mrs Rees Davies, Miss Lewis, Mrs .D. J. Holden, Mrs B. Shadbolt, Mrs F. L. Bone, Mrs E. M. Marshall, Mrs George Davies, Mrs J. Wright, Mrs Hedley Harvey, Mrs Donald Ltobertson.