The Door Garden Club will celebrate American Flowers Week with a sustainable floral design program, luncheon, and little flower show when it meets at the Beach Club at Horseshoe Bay
Golf Club in Egg Harbor Tuesday, June 27. Floral designers Sonja Durkee and Jane Mohit will demonstrate creative new and old ways to hold stems in place and keep them fresh longer, all without the use of floral foam.
Participants are invited to enter a floral centerpiece appropriate for a dining table in the Floral Design Class of the Club's first flower show. Entries will not be judged, but entrants will have an opportunity to talk about their design during an informal Flower Show and Tell.
Sustainable floristry is using environment-friendly plant materials and products. Ever since Smithers Oasis invented plastic floral foam in the 1960's, professional florists and hobbyists alike have come to depend on the product, largely because of its supreme water retention and anchoring properties which, in turn, increases stem life and eases the transportation of floral arrangements.
But the product is made from synthetic, non-recyclable plastic and is created using a combination of carbon black, formaldehyde and phenolic foam, all of which are toxic.
Though it crumbles, floral foam doesn’t fully dissolve in water or degrade in a landfill or soil. Instead, it breaks down into micro-plastics. These can take thousands of years to completely revert into natural elements, and contaminates marine life and our food chain.
In 2021, the Royal Horticulture Society, the 'gold standard' sponsor of flower shows worldwide, stated "Floral foam uses micro-plastics and is currently non-recyclable; with this in mind we have come to the decision to ban the use of floral foam at RHS Shows from 2021, and have asked that floral designers at RHS Shows this year trial alternative products where possible."
The cost of the luncheon and demonstration if $40. Interested individuals are welcome to attend and enter the club's first little flower show. Find more details and sign up in advance at doorgardenclub.org.
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