Atlanta party planners Tricky Wolfes and Kathy Rainer created this arrangement during the Garden Club of Virginia’s fall symposium in September.
Living up to their motto of “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Atlanta party planners Tricky Wolfes and Kathy Rainer delighted attendees at the Garden Club of Virginia’s first-ever fall symposium recently, creating several floral masterpieces as they shared arranging tips and tricks while chatting easily with one another and, at times, with audience members.
“We know we’re preaching to the choir,” Rainer said to those who had packed the floor of the Bolling Haxall House, eager to hear from the pair who created the company Parties to Die For and who have designed and executed the fall gala for the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for more than a decade. This year’s event, themed “Kaleidoscope,” featured an archway of 4,000 carnations.
GCV Executive Director Lynn McCashin said Tricky and Wolfes were a natural fit for the symposium. “Their style and their ease with materials are inspiring,” she said. “They make what they do accessible … and speak to our members, who have one foot in tradition but aren’t afraid to step out and try something new.”
For their part, Rainer and Wolfes were happy to bring their interactive presentation style to Richmond, a place they’d never been. “We like to make it fun, light and happy,” Wolfes says, with Rainer adding that audience involvement is key: “We invite it, and we like it.”
A few flower-arranging pointers from Rainer and Wolfes that you can use when creating holiday arrangements during the next few months:
- Take regular breaks as you arrange. Stand back to see gaps that need to be filled or to make sure the composition is balanced in color and size. This is where a partner is handy.
- Arrangements that are designed to sit flat against a wall (such as on a mantel or in front of a fireplace) must be weighted in the back so they won’t pitch forward when fully loaded with flowers and greenery. The duo says they’ve even used rocks for this.
- Greenery cut from your own property not only saves money but gives displays a natural, personal look. “We cut from the yard as much as we possibly can,” Wolfes says.
- When placing floral oasis material in a container, make sure that some extends over the top and sides, so the display can lean “graciously” beyond the base. “You want to think about ins and outs, highs and lows, ups and downs,” Rainer says.
- Remember the back of the display. Even if a display is seemingly viewed only from the front, be mindful of the shadow line that will inevitably appear. “Think of all the dimensions,” Wolfes says.
- For a natural, garden-fresh look, open rose petals gently — “No bullet roses!” Rainer says. Some varieties do this better than others: Try Pink Floyd, Free Spirit and Circus.
- If you want ranunculus but can’t get them, hold a Baroness rose tightly near its top and cut evenly across with sharp shears. Then open the petals, and it’s a lookalike.
- If you want to create a wall of greenery, huckleberry vines — common to many backyards — look much like creeping fig.
- To revive roses, plunge them into a bath of cool water for a few hours (not overnight). To keep hydrangeas fresh, cut stems under water, then dunk ends in either Quick Dip (a preserving solution) or alum powder (a pickling spice).
- Remove the anthers from a lily as soon as the flower opens. To remove pollen dust from clothing, use clear tape or a brush. Don’t touch it with bare hands; even a light touch will embed the pollen further. Use a pipe cleaner to remove dust from the petals.
- Remember to add smaller “satellite” arrangements on a table. “These are precious and darling little things,” Rainer said. “There’s something about a little container with moss, grapes, or a sprig of sedum or larkspur. It’s a miniature work of art at eye level.”
