An entirely edible display is among the variety of floral artworks featured in this years Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival, returning for its sixth year.
The show featured 30 designers from all over the country who presented works inspired by the theme of ‘Nature Unbound’, and ran from 13th-15th September.
A display by artist Hannah Bryce, entitled Floral Feast, was entirely edible, using flowers, fruit and vegetables to create a rainbow-coloured tower of seasonal horticulture.
Minnow and Wolf Flowers- Hannah Bryce
All grown in Hampshire, she assembled a display of multicoloured gourds, tomatoes, berries and rainbow corn, embellished with dahlias, sunflowers and rosehips, garnished with dried grass.
Bryce mentioned that she wanted to use flowers and food to decorate and enjoy together.
Another artwork included a tree with a waterfall running through it, sent from New Zealand.
Lily Matilda Flowers- Lily Fitch for Shane Connelly
Lily Fitch’s floral art was inspired by a small rural village in Worchestershire.
She wanted to replicate the nostalgic childhood memories of walking up to her grandparent’s house.
Her grandmother was a florist who sold her horticulture at nearby flower markets, so she chose flowers from her grandmother’s garden, pairing them with pieces of overgrown hedgerows to recreate the path.
Fitch, of Lily Matilda Flowers, said “I wanted to show that you don’t always have to use cut flowers.”
She has channelled the textures of autumn through the foliage and has even added a small gate to her piece, to imitate the entrance to her grandparent’s garden.
Hortus Poeticus- Gillie Shaw and Fi Dykes
In a piece entitled The Natural World, a Feast for the Eyes and the Curious Mind, this display fits the theme as they envisioned a dinner with friends where the table has been abandoned.
The table was covered in curiosities as if a group of friends had come together after travelling the world to share the plant specimens they had gathered.
Fi Dykes, one of the florists, said the piece was as a culmination of: “Years of collection and curation.”
With the absence of guests, the fruit, vegetables, leaves and vines become wildly overgrown and reclaim the space.
Dykes explained that: “It’s all art rather than flower arranging.
“It’s about taking time to study and look at the beauty of nature.”
Dykes also emphasized the importance of sustainability; she detailed that every plant is in water vessels so they can last as long as possible, and they are composted afterwards.
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