govt house rotation - wk 5

When I first saw the huge picking flower garden here at Govt House, I expressed my interest in growing cut flowers and arranging them, so today Steve has kindly organised a fantastic opportunity for me to help out in the house with the Govt House florist for the morning! Chris is an experienced florist with 12 years experience and he is more than happy for me to join him for which I am so grateful and ridiculously excited! This will be the perfect opportunity for me delve into some creative work and observe which flowers cut well and last in a vase.


Chris checks the Asiatic liliums in this arrangement.

We start off with checking all the existing arrangements that were made up two days ago and bringing them down to the florist's room which is just past the kitchen in the bowels of the main house. Here Chris replaces the spent flowers and we do several runs up and down the stairs to cover all the arrangements. I pretend not to be totally awestruck by the beauty and grandeur of the house, which I have never seen inside before.

Replacing an arrangement in the drawing room.

Later on our task is to make a large arrangement that will sit in the ballroom for a function that evening. I am now able to see Chris start an arrangement from scratch and observe his methods and techniques. We head outside into the garden to collect some new material and I spy some beautiful architectural crab apple branches that Chris agrees will look great. Back inside we get down to work. I help out with preparing the individual elements.


Last week I was photographing this Aucuba japonica for my assignment. This week I'm cutting it off the bush and stripping it back to reveal the beautiful red berries for the ballroom arrangement.

The crab apple winter branches give a beautiful and architectural effect.

As Chris works I ask lots of questions and learn so much about the different techniques he uses to create a stunning large Constance Spry style arrangement like this. Using mainly things cut from the garden here such as Aucuba japonica, Choisya ternata, Kniphofia, Crab apples and variegated Cordyline but also supplementing with some wholesale flowers like the Orange and White Asiatic liliums and Chrysanthemums for good colour effect at this time of year. We both love the Brugmansia trumpet shaped flowers growing outside the florist's entrance door. Chris is not entirely sure how well they will last, but we decide to take the chance and he scorches them in hot water (to force any air bubbles out of the cut stem to enable the plant to drink more easily and last longer as a cut specimen) and adds them to the bottom of the arrangement to give it that 'wow' factor.


The finished arrangement in place on the ballroom plinth.

All in all it's been such an exciting day and Chris is more than happy for me to help out again, so we organise for me to meet him here the following week on my day off to get as much experience as I can.

The ballroom is quite stunning and even a huge arrangement such as this can get lost in the grandeur of the room.

The following week when I arrive for a full day helping Chris once more I'm very excited to find we are replacing all the arrangements from scratch in the house and Chris is happy for me to have a go with some arrangements myself! So excited I start on the first one which is to go on the hallway sideboard beneath a huge oil painting of Queen Elizabeth.

I start off (relying only on my book floristry knowledge and a wing and a prayer) by inserting into the chicken wire three (always use odd numbers) muted burgundy-green Cordyline for height, then I add branches of red Pyracanthus berries stripped of their leaves and some Camellia foliage in to bulk it out before starting to add some flowers. I love Hydrangeas especially the muted 'antique' colours the flowers go when left on the bush late in the season so these are the next to add, as there are plenty in the garden right now. Generally a good rule is the larger the flower head the lower down in the arrangement it should go for balance.  Sticking to a reds, pinks and yellows scheme I add some Proteas, Roses, and Alstromeria to finish it off. Chris then helps me finesse the arrangement by showing me how to add more depth, setting some more flowers at different heights and depths to give each flower it's own 'space' and not have everything on a similar level. But all in all, he is very impressed with my first ever attempt. I am beside myself with excitement placing it on the huge antique side table, grinning like a Cheshire cat from ear to ear.

My first ever arrangement!

Chris has so much plant and flower knowledge, I feel so appreciative of this experience and how generously and happily he is sharing it with me. Apart from asking him about each individual
flower and how it should be prepared for the vase, I make sure to ask him about broader things like the qualities of a good and bad floristry. Practices such as only ever using fresh good quality flowers, keeping your workspace clean, working quickly, keeping the vases meticulously clean & always replacing with fresh water are amongst the things he holds in high regard.


Chris hard at work on a new arrangement for the drawing room.

My next arrangement is to sit in an alcove in the hallway that houses a beautiful grand piano. This one should be able to be seen from all sides or 'in the round'. I choose a white, yellow and lime green colour palette this time and use again variegated Cordyline to start it off. Next large white Liliums, a huge stork of Canna, Choisya and beautiful delicate Acacia foliage that is about to burst into flower so needs to be scorched first. Green Hydrangeas, white and yellow fluffy carnations and ferns complete the picture. Chris is very happy and impressed, I have managed to learn from the first arrangement and give this one more depth and balance.

My second arrangement sits next to a grand piano.

Next on the list are two small low vases for the drawing room tables. These should match and compliment the other arrangements in the room with a similar mix of flowers. I use some lemon tulips staked in a metal pincushion in the bottom of the vase as the centre and build around it with a mix of colourful yellow and orange flowers set against dark green foliage. The fun addition is a twig of persimmons from the pair of trees in the garden, abundant with the ripe fruit at the moment. Chris gets me to try one - really delicious! 

The drawing room tables hold both these sweet 'fruity' bowls .

Next on the list for me is a medium size arrangement for a side table just outside the drawing room. As it's my last one for today (and probably ever!) I want to get a bit creative and make something a bit different to the last ones. After getting back from another raid in the garden (I feel like the queen's police are going to jump out from behind a bush and arrest me for carrying secateurs and an armful of foliage at any moment!) I decide to feature some stunning paper daisy like flowers (not quite sure what these are called?) plucked from the native section of the garden. They are a beautiful mix of reds, creams and pinks. I also steal some dark red roses from the rose garden as I want them to match with some immature burgundy Canna leaves I find at the base of a huge plant. I just love ferns in flower arrangements too and find some beautiful bright green ones in the native garden to add. When it's finished, the only thing I wish I could replace is the bright pink Hydrangeas with darker more burgundy/green toned ones but it's all about using up what we have and not taking too long in the process. Chris is more than pleased so that's all that matters.

My last arrangement for the day.

So my time is sadly up. Huge thanks to Chris and apologies for not being a very good company when I was making the arrangements, I was concentrating so hard I couldn't finish a sentence properly! Despite this, I think he is happy with my efforts and appreciative of the help which is fantastic. I've learnt so much about cut flowers and arranging them over both days that I don't think I'll forget this experience for some time.