DESIGN EXHIBIT: Favorite Game

​This month’s design exhibit embraced a playful and nostalgic theme, Favorite Game, inviting members to transform beloved pastimes into imaginative floral creations. Each design told a personal story, blending creativity, technical skill, and a love of plants into unique interpretations of familiar games.

Margo Antonelli drew inspiration from the classic game Pick Up Sticks, capturing its sense of movement and spontaneity through a bright and textural arrangement. She incorporated wooden skewers to represent the game’s scattered sticks, adding structure and visual interest. Her plant material included Sunflower (Helianthus), Daisy (Bellis perennis), Green Maple (Acer saccharum), and Cape Daisy ‘Sunbright’ (Sakata). The interplay of skewers, stems, and blooms echoed the overlapping lines of the game itself, resulting in a lively and engaging composition.

Carol Morris based her design on her favorite card game, bridge, interpreting it through a traditional American style. Each flower represented one of the four suits, with a total of thirteen elements symbolizing a full hand. Her selection included peony, blue sea holly thistle, lavender and red carnations, delicate lavender filler, and peony foliage. The thoughtful symbolism and structured arrangement reflected both the strategy and elegance of the game.

Paulette Heward created a heartfelt tribute to Monopoly, inspired by fond childhood memories of playing the game with her siblings. Her design featured Euonymus japonicus and red carnations, accented with actual game cards to reinforce the theme. The piece conveyed a sense of nostalgia and storytelling, reminding viewers of the connections and traditions formed around the game board.

Trish Lilek Demers presented an Armature Creative Design based on Scrabble, combining engineering and artistry. With assistance from her husband Dave, she constructed a supportive armature that incorporated letter tiles spelling “Tropic Art.” Each letter corresponded to a specific plant material: Ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa ‘Hawaiian’), Rex Begonia, Orchid, orange Pincushion protea (Leucospermum), Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato vine), Calla Lily (Zantedeschia), and Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (‘Gold Dust’). The result was an inventive and visually striking design that celebrated both language and horticulture.
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Together, these designs showcased the members’ ability to draw inspiration from everyday joys and transform them into expressive works of floral art. The exhibit was a celebration of creativity, memory, and the shared delight found in both games and gardening.

DESIGN EXHIBIT: Favorite Book

This month’s design exhibit celebrates the connection between literature and floral artistry, with each designer interpreting a favorite book through meaningful botanical choices. These arrangements go beyond aesthetics, using flowers to reflect story, emotion, and theme.

Rosa Johnson drew inspiration from Violeta by Isabel Allende, a novel that follows Violeta del Valle through a century of history, from 1920 to 2020, including two pandemics. The story explores resilience, love, and human rights. Rosa’s design reflects these themes using carnations for strength and admiration, and African violets as a nod to the protagonist’s name and quiet endurance. Limonium “Beltlaard,” known as the “divine flower of the gods,” adds an airy, timeless quality that mirrors a life shaped by challenge and growth.

Littany Hollerbach’s petite arrangement is inspired by Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. The protagonist, Holly Golightly, experiences the “mean reds,” a deep sense of anxiety, and finds comfort in the calm elegance of Tiffany & Co. Littany’s design captures this contrast with a soft yet structured blend of spray roses, mums, dianthus, and hypericum berries, reflecting both vulnerability and the soothing power of beauty.

Sally Moore’s design is a tribute to a beloved children’s book she read countless times to her grandchildren, about a frog exploring and eating different insects. Her arrangement, featuring daffodils, golden mop cypress, and aucuba, is bright, textured, and playful—capturing the joy of storytelling and the lasting memories created through reading together.
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Together, the exhibit highlights how stories can be transformed into living art, showing the shared power of literature and design to inspire and connect.

DESIGN EXHIBIT: Favorite Pastime

January's Design Exhibit offered a warm and personal glimpse into what inspires our designers. Although we featured just two designers this month, the exhibit felt especially meaningful, with one designer sharing two distinct creations that reflected different ways she loves to spend her time. Each arrangement told a story, blending personal passions with thoughtful floral symbolism.

Charlotte Sazama’s design, Grandma’s Garden, celebrated her favorite pastime—spending time with her grandchildren. She beautifully compared grandchildren to flowers in the garden of life, a sentiment reflected in her floral choices. White and yellow daisies formed the heart of the arrangement, with white symbolizing purity, innocence, and youth, and yellow representing joy, happiness, and optimism. These cheerful blooms were nestled alongside a spider plant, chosen for its meaning of prosperity, resilience, and positive energy, perfectly capturing the love, growth, and strength found in family bonds.

Jessica shared two designs, each inspired by a different pastime she enjoys. Her first arrangement highlighted her love of gardening and was created in a container shaped like gardening boots, adding a playful and thematic touch. The design included yellow Asiatic lilies, delphiniums, goldenrod, a rose, asters, and lush greenery, echoing the colors and textures often found in a thriving garden. Her second design reflected her passion for hiking and was arranged in a small black vase. Using leatherleaf fern, goldenrod, and blue lace flower, Jessica incorporated elements reminiscent of what one might encounter along a scenic trail, bringing the beauty of the outdoors into a simple, nature-inspired arrangement. Together, these designs made January’s exhibit both heartfelt and creatively inspiring.

DESIGN EXHIBIT: Favorite Sports Team

For our October Design Exhibit, designers showcased creative floral arrangements inspired by their favorite sports teams, combining personal stories, unique plant materials, and thoughtful containers to highlight team spirit.

Shirley Levendoski created a traditional mass design honoring Navy Football, reflecting her family’s love for tailgating at games. Her arrangement featured yellow daisy mums, small white spray mums, and Rucus Butcher's Broom. The flowers were displayed in a handwoven basket Shirley made during a basket-making course, decorated in Navy’s signature blue and gold. Bill the Goat, Navy’s mascot, was attached to complete the Navy theme. The basket was used as the centerpiece for their tailgating parties.

Rena Pogue designed an arrangement inspired by the Baltimore Orioles, using English boxwood, dianthus, and chrysanthemums. The flowers were arranged in a box wrapped with a fan towel, evoking the colors and spirit of her favorite team.

Paula Moratto paid tribute to the Washington Commanders with a design that incorporated Spider chrysanthemums, burgundy roses, and leucadendron Safari Sunset Conebush. She also included a football to complete the sporty theme.

Mary Ann Cannone's creative pot-et-fleur design was based on the New York Yankees. She used dracaena, chrysanthemums, fluxweed, and lemon-lime dracaena, and drew pinstripes on the vase while incorporating pinstripe foliage. Mary Ann also shared a personal story of taking her sons to a parade in New York, where one of her sons received an autograph from the legendary Joe DiMaggio.

Each design reflected not only the team colors and symbols but also the designers’ personal connections and memories, making the exhibit a vibrant celebration of sports, creativity, and floral artistry.

DESIGN EXHIBIT: Favorite Vacation Spot

For our September Design Exhibit, designers had the freedom to choose either a Traditional or Creative Design. Each arrangement shared a story, celebrating a place that holds special memories.

Peggy Smail recalled a memorable trip to Kentucky with her design, Kentucky Sunshine. She incorporated black-eyed Susan, orange coneflower, purple aster, goldenrod, and Autumn Joy sedum. To complete the story, her design included a small bottle of bourbon and a horse, symbolizing Kentucky’s heritage.

Cindy Hare drew inspiration from her visits to National Parks. Her design featured an impressive collection of blooms, including New England aster, meadow flox, bush grass, wrinkleleaf goldenrod, and Japanese yew, among others. A piece of bark, representing the grandeur of the mountains, brought her design to life and evoked the beauty of the natural landscapes she enjoys exploring.

Sally Moore chose the beach as her favorite vacation destination. Her design combined the golden tones of Gold Mop cypress with bright red begonias, creating a lively contrast that echoed the vibrancy of a summer day by the sea. Seashells nestled among the flowers served as charming accents, instantly transporting viewers to the shoreline and evoking the relaxation and joy of a seaside holiday.