Garden Gathered blooms from Riverdale Farm
It was a unique and delightful experience to be invited to provide our garden-grown flowers for Debra Hayes's Spring Masterclass 2024 in the beautiful North Perth Town Hall. Collaborating with her for this class was a delight, bringing Riverdale Farm flowers to Perth for her guests. Deb had been a workshop guest at Riverdale Farm some years earlier, and we had collaborated on a book event for Garden Gathered in 2022. We were also fortunate to have Rory Wylie photograph the day for us.
It was held in mid-November, when our rose season was in full swing, and the rose haul for this day was significant. Supporting spring blooms were also plentiful: beautiful foxgloves, delphinium, strawflowers, flannel flowers, larkspur, Queen Anne's lace, and snapdragons.Â
Jim loaded the Prado full of our blooms, and we drove to Perth on Saturday afternoon. The 5-hour drive was a delightful opportunity to enjoy the delicious scent of the bountiful roses. Thankfully, it was a relatively cool weekend in Perth, which alleviated the stress of how my flowers would survive the drive and the weather, which is very often extremely hot at that time of the year.
Sunday spent at the workshop in the company of flower enthusiasts was a highlight. Witnessing these women excitedly creating with my homegrown flowers was heartwarming.
Deb had planned a beautiful day, beginning with a group floral installation and making of their table centrepiece. After a delicious lunch with much chatter, everyone moved on to creating a bouquet after Deb and I demonstrated our different approaches to making garden-style bouquets. Deb carefully planned and styled this event in her signature style, and it did not disappoint.
It was a joyful day as I chatted and shared the story of my garden-gathered blooms. I learnt from the guests' colour choices, inspiring me to try different colour combinations in my work. Their enthusiasm and creativity truly made the day special.
Riverdale Farm runs the occasional group workshop and is also available for one-to-one workshops at our workshop in Albany, Western Australia. If you have a small group interested in a floral design workshop, reach out to arrange a mutually agreeable time to come and enjoy our garden-gathered blooms. These workshops are suitable for anyone who loves flowers. What you decide to learn is your choice, which can be discussed at booking.
We have a beautiful cottage, Riverdale 1898, on-site, which is available to stay in. Alternatively, we can provide a bucket of our garden-gathered blooms for you to arrange at your leisure while staying at the cottage. Riverdale 1898 is the perfect space to relax and recharge, and guests are invited to wander in our garden whilst staying at the cottage.
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