Easter. Mother’s Day. Weddings. Fourth of July. Do you look forward to these occasions for bringing family and friends together? Is it a pleasure to bring out the special accessories to decorate for the celebrations?
Members of the Garden Club of Frankfort are dedicating their October Flower Show to sharing ideas for special table decorations for holiday entertaining. At the club’s meeting in April, Dorothy Wilson, a Master Flower Show Judge, demonstrated some ideas for designing a breakfast tray for a special occasion.
Flower Show exhibit competition rules require that the tray include a decorative floral unit as well as the functional accessories necessary for the meal. This presents a challenge since the floral unit needs to be of a size that’s in correct scale with the table setting components as well as the tray itself.
The designer will need to search out small containers as well as plant material that is on a small scale. For containers Dorothy used small potteries made by her grandchildren, votive candleholders, and containers she had contrived herself from objects around the house. Plant material came from her garden and included such things as dried poppy seed heads, foliage from sea oats, mustard blooms, and hellebore flowers.
Dorothy said the hunt for the table’s functional components is part of the pleasure she gets from doing table designs. She pointed out that since it isn’t necessary to have complete place settings it’s possible just to be on the lookout for that single, unique plate that will set the theme for the rest of the exhibit.
The hunt could take you to flea markets, Goodwill stores, and yard sales. And she also likes to be on the lookout for fabric samples and remnants that she can use to create her own place mats and napkins.
Club members were also reminded that a flower show in October presents a bit of challenge for horticulture exhibits. In addition to garden horticulture an emphasis this year will be on container plants, dish gardens and terrariums.
Living in History
Tour is June 9
Pat Geveden reported on plans for the annual Living in History tour set for June 9. There will be seven houses on the tour this year. Three are in downtown Frankfort and four are in the Two Creeks neighborhood. The Frankfort Country Club, about to celebrate its 100th year, will be offering lunch ($15) to anyone taking the tour and there will also be a shopper’s boutique at the club featuring, among others, Jon Carloftis’ Rockcastle Trading Company and the Garden Club of Kentucky’s Carriage House.
The tickets for the tour, also $15, will be available at any of the houses or at Tourist Center, 100 Capital Ave. The featured garden this year is a professionally designed rain garden. Members were encouraged to sign up to help with hostess duties at the tour homes and also to start planning for their contributions to the “Surprise Bags” that will be available for purchase at each home. Each bag will sell for $5 but will offer about $10 worth of surprises. Proceeds from the tour, as always, will help fund beautification efforts in our community.
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