From Britain with Love

I love autumn and if you read my blog, you’ll notice that it’s something I’ve been talking about quite a bit lately. I just can’t help myself. It’s the colours, the cosiness....all of it.

So on an early autumn day, I found myself heading to The Sussex Flower School in Laughton for the ‘Autumn Splendour’ course where I was promised.... a pumpkin. That is, a pumpkin to use as the basis for an autumnal floral arrangement.

Set up by florist Georgia Miles, the School itself is a purpose-built workshop in the grounds of Georgia’s own home, a picture-perfect cottage with its own cutting garden and elegant touches that are straight off the pages of Country Living.

Arriving for the course, I was told that the pumpkins had been sourced locally – the proud harvest of a schoolboy called Harry who I promised I would mention. Several pumpkins flanked the door of the workshop and inside there were more so that everyone could have their own, ready to hollow out and fill with flowers.

There are two parts to this course. The first is the pumpkin floral arrangement and the second, which takes place in the afternoon teaches students how to make the perfect Autumnal hand tied bouquet.

But first things first, let’s get back to the pumpkins. Georgia demonstrated the technique we would need to employ to get our pumpkin ready. This required a sharp knife to lop off the top and then a big spoon to scoop out the flesh (and yes, there would be plenty to make a decent pumpkin pie). I am not adept at using sharp tools so needed a bit of help with this!

After that, Georgia taught us how to correctly use Oasis – the green foam-like stuff that florists use to secure their creations. Once this has been soaked in water, it was sliced with a florist’s knife and inserted into the hollowed pumpkin.

Any gaps left by the Oasis are then topped up with moss; this has an evocative smell that reminds one of walking through woodland in the rain (it wouldn’t be autumn without a few showers, would it?).

If you’re indecisive, the next part of the course would have you dithering for hours as it is time to choose your autumn-hued flowers, many of which come from Georgia’s cutting garden and include dahlias, sedum and gerberas.

I opted for orange gerberas to echo the shape and colour of my pumpkin, dark purple dahlias, fragrant lavender and armfuls of greenery for my autumnal display.

Like an artist starting with a blank sheet of paper, placing the first flowers can be a bit daunting but you soon get into a rhythm and find that you work almost instinctively, relaxing as you do.

For me, time flew by and it wasn’t long before I’d finished my arrangement – a small, textured creation, which I hope you’ll like as much as I do.

After an intimate lunch with the rest of the group in Georgia’s house (the main course, a fittingly autumnal butternut squash tart and for dessert one of Georgia’s homemade delights) we set to work on the hand tied bouquet.

It is quite fiddly to get the hang of, as you need to grip the flowers securely but not too tightly, a similar premise as getting the correct tension when knitting. Once again, we were given an enormous choice of autumn flowers and told to take our pick.

The beauty of the hand tied bouquet is that it can be achieved with almost any seasonal flowers and foliage once you’ve mastered the basics. And because teaching groups are small, you’ll get plenty of help and attention.

Finally, we learned how to wrap our creations with tissue and raffia ensuring they would make the perfect gift for those lucky enough to receive them.

This course is ideal for the beginner as it offers lots of tips and techniques, and with seasonal-inspired courses running throughout the year, you’ll soon be able to rustle up arrangements that will have people asking ‘did you really do that?.'

Resources

The Sussex Flower School runs a selection of floral and other creative courses throughout the year. To find out more visit www.thesussexflowerschool.co.uk.

Clare Kelly is a freelance craft journalist, photographer and author of the blog Pass The Pattern. All images courtesy of Clare Kelly.

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