Fall into floral arrangements

Supplied by Pioneer Garden Club

Fall is a wonderful time of year to be outdoors, to enjoy nature and to work in your yard and garden. Members of the Pioneer Garden Club have been looking forward to this season and all our related activities. We are planning another daylily planting in the Pioneer Garden at Tuscawilla Art Park as part of our community partnership with the City of Ocala. Our Silver Springs Committee and members from all four circles will decorate the entrance to the Silver Springs State Park for the holiday season. We will use live poinsettias around the fountain, hang wreaths on the ticket booths and add decorations to the areas nearby.

Fall is a beautiful time to make a flower arrangement for your own home. On Sept.  13, members of the Pioneer Garden Club attended their general meeting to begin the club year. Member Barbara McGhee gave a program about making floral arrangements using a few purchased flowers and greenery clippings from her yard. The results were simply stunning!

Supplied by Pioneer Garden Club

To create your own floral arrangement, start by looking around your home for an interesting container. You can use traditional glass or ceramic containers or things such as baskets, teapots, pitchers and bowls. There are several ways to hold flowers in place. Florist oasis (a foam material that fits in the bottom of a container) can be purchased at local hobby stores or floral shops. There are two types: wet and dry. Use the dry oasis for dried plants that do not need water. Use the wet oasis for live plants and flowers that need water. Soak the oasis in water for the time specified on the package as needed, then  place it inside your container. You can trim it to fit.

Then begins the creative process of putting together your arrangement. Find some colorful flowers in your yard, at a grocery store or florist. Remember to cut the stems at a diagonal and put them in water for some time so they can soak up the water and stay fresh. You only need a few. Complement the flowers with cuttings from the plants in your yard—hedge branches, ferns, foliage cuttings and the like. Try to mix up the textures of the greenery to add interest. Place your main flowers in the oasis. Then add the greenery around the flowers. Be sure to place plants and greenery on all sides of the container so it will look nice from all angles.  

Supplied by Pioneer Garden Club

Enjoy your own beautiful arrangement in your home. You can change out the flowers as they start to fade. When the next holiday comes, you’ll be ready to try again. 

Pioneer Garden Club of Ocala members used their flower arranging skills recently while hosting the Fall Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC) District V Meeting at the beautiful Barn at Bellemoor on Oct. 14. Members from District V attended including clubs from Brooksville, Citrus, Crystal River, Floral City, Four Seasons, Gainesville, Homosassa, Inverness, Lake City, McIntosh Seedlings Garden Club, Newberry and Pioneer. In addition, representatives from FFGC also attended. 

Our Gloriosa Circle Members provided floral arrangements for the table and room in keeping with our “Autumn Splendor” theme for the event. Members headed to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon where they harvested fresh sunflowers, zinnias and sun hemp to make creative table decorations. Ashley Cannon of Cannon Farms was helpful and had great suggestions on gathering the blooms from the fields. All members of Gloriosa Circle contributed plants and greenery from their own yards and designed the arrangements. They used plants such as firecracker, magnolia leaves, ginger, African orchid leaves, pin oak branches stripped, berries from a tree, mother-in-law tongue, crotons and more. The decorations turned out to be lovely and reflected the beauty of fall colors. 

Pioneer Garden Club often offers Fun with Flowers workshops that are open to the public to learn more about making flower arrangements. Check the Pioneer Garden Website for more information: www.pioneergardenclub.org. 

Fall is the time to enjoy nature’s bounty. Gather your containers, buy a few fall flowers from a store, collect some pine cones, trim some greenery in your yard and make a beautiful display in your home. Bring the splendor of autumn to your home by making flower arrangements to enjoy during this pleasant season in Florida.