Petal power earns praise for floral design class

Twelve ladies from the contemporary floral design course organised by Sutton Community Academy and held at St Andrew’s Church, put their creative skills to the test for a special event being held at Hardwick Hall.

Under the expert eye of tutor Jill Bewick, they put together six eye-catching and colourful arrangements which graced the windows of the hall’s colonnade during the recent Florescence floral design and photography competition held there.

The competition was organised by the North Midlands area of NAFAS (National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies) which had invited Jill’s class to contribute additional display pieces to welcome visitors to the hall.

“They were very nervous about it because it is such a prestigious location and it was somewhere where the general public would see the pieces they created,” Jill said.

“They worked together on the arrangements. They were divided into pairs because there were six windows and we met at my house to plan it all to the budget of £150.”

The learners were asked to create brightly coloured displays and they chose sunflowers, which visitors would see from a distance, and complemented these with the reds and oranges of gladioli, lilies and chrysanthemums.

Said Jill: “We decided that if all six windows were actually the same they would have more impact so it had to be planned to the last flower.”

The finished displays looked stunning and captured the attention of everyone entering the hall.

Jill said she was very proud of her class.

“I was absolutely thrilled,” she added.

“Even while they were doing it the hall was open to the public and they got so many words of praise from visitors.”