Can’t Travel? Use PHS Postcards for Floral Inspirations

By Jill Brooke

If you are like me, I had to cancel a major anniversary trip, you are staying close to home for a bit because of the coronavirus.

However, we can still dream of travel and the future.  Especially Europe and the romantic Italian coastal towns such as Monterosso, Vernazza and Riomaggiore.

For one of the many entertaining exhibits at the Philadelphia Flower Show,  the Philadelphia Horticultural Society asked people to interpret postcards provided by them from Italy – since the 2020 theme was the Riviera.

While you enjoy what these creative floral artists have accomplished, consider making your own home project.

Ask each family member where they would like to go. That automatically starts a conversation. Then devise a way to interpret that special place and create your own floral arrangement.

You can even call it Staycation Flowers.

Notice how these artists also used non-floral materials from nature to enhance their creations.

Here were the winners that the PHS judges chose.

This one used bamboo sticks, calla lily, eucalyptus leaf, ginger, hypericum, kangaroo paw, Pieris japonica, pincushion protea, thistle and tulips.  It won first prize. Lately, sustainable materials do get a judge’s attention. For me though, I still swoon over lots of flowers. But sustainability is truly trending.

 

The second prize was this entry. It used rose, juniper, tillandsia and Chamaecyparis.

This one won third prize. The artist used dianthus, dried root, driftwood, gesenstra, hydrangea, hypericum, lace cap hydrangea, moss and walnut tree. It actually was my personal favorite.

For those who gravitate towards roses, this other entry also elicited oohs and ahs.

Cleverly, this small exhibit housed the floral arrangements in cases that really do illustrate how floral arrangements are indeed a form of art.

Photo Credits: Flower Power Daily

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD.