Beautiful Bouquets Half Day Workshop at the Jane Packer Flower School

I hope you had a lovely weekend…

Last month, I was invited to attend a ‘Beautiful Bouquets’ Half Day workshop at the Jane Packer Flower School…and what a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning!

The school is based in New Cavendish Street in Central London, just a few minutes walk from Oxford Circus tube station.

Our teacher for this three hour course was a lovely gentleman called Akira, who has over fifteen years of floristry experience.

Many of the people taking part had been bought the workshop as a Christmas or birthday present.

There were groups of friends, and mothers and daughters.  Plus there was one lady who wanted to learn how to arrange flowers into a bouquet for gifts for her friends.

The morning started off with hot drinks, biscuits and cakes, before Akira gave an introductory talk.

He explained how to keep your flowers looking fresh for as long as possible, with hints and tips including changing the water regularly, recutting the stems and using flower food.

He then told us about the Jane Packer style and said that it is contemporary, with a monochromatic colour palette and groups of blooms.

Jane, apparently, got her inspiration for her style from an English garden, where plants are  grown in groups in borders.  The different types of flowers are not mixed up, so you can really see the individual colour and texture of each bloom.

Akira demonstrated how to make a hand-tied bouquet using white ‘Avalanche’ roses, ‘Rosita’ Double Lisianthus, ‘Desert Yearning’ Amaranthus (which I’d never come across before), ‘Helvetia’ Oriental Lilies, Aspidistra leaves and Eucalyptus.

And below, you can see how he created this loose hand-tied bouquet with groupings and spiralled stems, step-by-step…

And here’s his finished design. Isn’t it beautiful?

Throughout his demo, Akira continued to give us lots of advice, from the different varieties of ‘Avalanche’ rose available to how to revive hydrangeas and ‘droopy’ roses.

Then it was our turn.  And here’s my finished bouquet below…

I loved the variety of flowers and foliage, and in particular the amaranthus which reminded me a little of catkins.

When we’d all made our bouquets, Akira showed us how to wrap them using tissue paper, cellophane and ribbon. Then we placed them in bouquet bags to transport home.

Akira’s guidance on how to make a bouquet was very easy to follow.  He had such a wonderful manner with all of his students and nothing was too much trouble.

I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this ‘Beautiful Bouquets’ workshop, especially for a complete beginner to floristry.

(Images : Rona Wheeldon for Flowerona)