Our show at Cheekwood was canceled for the second year, but we were asked to supply daffodils for the Cheekwood mansion. Last weekend would have been our show. We agreed and then discovered they wanted the arrangements up for a week. Anne Cain, one of the members of the Middle TN Daffodil Society, agreed to make two of her large-scale arrangements and I added in two smaller ones. I agreed to pick daffodils daily and keep the arrangements refreshed. One large arrangement was placed in the fireplace of the entrance hall of the mansion and the others were placed on a large marble table in the Loggia. Apparently there is something different about the climate in the Loggia because many of the flowers had to be replaced daily there, but the ones in the entrance hall fireplace lasted much longer. In this week with daytime temperatures in the 70’s F, our season has progressed from mid-season to late season quickly. Today I did the last picking of daffodils for Cheekwood and refreshed the arrangements for the last time. They will be taken down tomorrow. The original arrangements are the three with forsythia and the vase of pink cups.
It was fascinating to watch Anne Cain build the arrangements. In the fireplace arrangement she snugged in as many plastic champagne flutes as would fit, added water to each one and then started adding daffodils and forsythia. This arrangement was much easier to refresh than the other large arrangement which used a number of floral frogs in the base of the container. Good information so I thought I would share. Also, I’ve been pricing floral frogs and plastic champagne flutes are a LOT less expensive!
Thank you for sharing these photos Becky! Just lovely!
Dianne Bowditch, New York
Very nice, Becky. And a great way to get daffodils out for people to see!! Thanks for sharing.
Mary Lou
The arrangements for Cheekwood are gorgeous! Thanks for the photos Becky!
Like most of the country, SWODS did not have a show for the second year in a row. But that’s not a good reason to not have people see some of our newer and different blooms as we’re having a good growing season.
Today I had a dental appointment and one for a haircut. So …. last night I went out and picked two large bouquets to take with me. Both were very appreciated but I was stopped as leaving the hairdresser to explain to 2 customers and one of the hairdresser what the differences were. They were really taken with the pink cups and the unusual forms and the smells. ‘Erlicheer’ was a hit for both smell and tiny multiple blooms!
And it was easy to sneak in a mention of the ADS and their website.
I need to add another bit to the above method using the plastic champagne flutes. When I disassembled the arrangements today, I saw that Anne had placed a small chunk or two of wet floral foam in the bottom of each flute. She just tore off small pieces to put in each one. I think those definitely helped the daffodils stay in position.
Great story, Linda! It doesn’t matter how we share our daffodils, through shows or mansions or dentist offices, but it certainly is fun to do! Each day I went to Cheekwood to refresh the flowers, I would have conversations with people and they would ask to take a photograph of the arrangement or the container of daffs I had brought in to replace the wilted flowers. Or they would talk about the daffodils they are growing or the ones their mothers and grandmothers grew (as mine did). These were visitors to Cheekwood as well as staff. Today as I was leaving I gave a bouquet of ‘Tahiti’ to the female security guard who had been there a couple of times this week when I was there and was interested in the daffodils. It made her and me very happy.
While we have had these arrangements in the mansion, the Visitors Services Center building of Cheekwood has displayed several of our ADS and MTDS banners in their space. We have our show in that building most years (but not for the last two years due to COVID-19) and have had the ADS banners displayed in the large room during our show. We have tried to encourage Cheekwood to display the banners during their much longer daffodil bulb season, but this is the first year they have taken us up on this offer. So just another thought — reach out to your local botanical garden, garden center, or other venue to keep our favorite flower in focus!
Hi Becky, Don’t forget to add ice cubes to hold them longer. Sally Nash
Comment by: Becky Fox Matthews
Becky Fox Matthews, Tennessee has commented on a post.
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I need to add another bit to the above method using the plastic champagne flutes. When I disassembled the arrangements today, I saw that Anne had placed a small chunk or two of wet floral foam in the bottom of each flute. She just tore off small pieces to put in each one. I think those definitely helped the daffodils stay in position.
Great story, Linda! It doesn’t matter how we share our daffodils, through shows or mansions or dentist offices, but it certainly is fun to do! Each day I went to Cheekwood to refresh the flowers, I would have conversations with people and they would ask to take a photograph of the arrangement or the container of daffs I had brought in to replace the wilted flowers. Or they would talk about the daffodils they are growing or the ones their mothers and grandmothers grew (as mine did). These were visitors to Cheekwood as well as staff. Today as I was leaving I gave a bouquet of ‘Tahiti’ to the female security guard who had been there a couple of times this week when I was there and was interested in the daffodils. It made her and me very happy.
While we have had these arrangements in the mansion, the Visitors Services Center building of Cheekwood has displayed several of our ADS and MTDS banners in their space. We have our show in that building most years (but not for the last two years due to COVID-19) and have had the ADS banners displayed in the large room during our show. We have tried to encourage Cheekwood to display the banners during their much longer daffodil bulb season, but this is the first year they have taken us up on this offer. So just another thought — reach out to your local botanical garden, garden center, or other venue to keep our favorite flower in focus!
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Sally Nash, I have never heard of using ice cubes in an arrangement! Tell me more, please. I am fairly new to the floral design world!
I forgot to mention that Cheekwood had several of our educational banners up for the week in the Visitors Services Building, too. We usually have them up just for our show and have encouraged them for years to keep them up in their entrance lobby while their daffodils are in bloom.
Becky, It’s the same in the ground, your fridge or a vase. They start growing at 45 degrees so the warmer the temperature, growing or cut, the sooner they flower and fade. At a garden tour in Seattle I once saw an elegant house with a giant rectangular entry garden planted with masses of only white City of Harlem tulips in full bloom. What a gutsy owner to risk growing a single variety I thought as they’d just had an unusual stretch of very warm days. Her secret was that if you reached down and felt beneath the leaves the entire bed had been spread with several inches deep of ice cubes. Sally
Comment by: Becky Fox Matthews
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Sally Nash, I have never heard of using ice cubes in an arrangement! Tell me more, please. I am fairly new to the floral design world!
I forgot to mention that Cheekwood had several of our educational banners up for the week in the Visitors Services Building, too. We usually have them up just for our show and have encouraged them for years to keep them up in their entrance lobby while their daffodils are in bloom.
~~—~~Becky Fox Matthews has commented on a post at daffnet.org
Click here to see the comment and the original post: daffnet.org/2021/03/daffodil-arrangements-for-cheekwood-thi/#comment-19522
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Wow, Sally! That’s a great tip. Thanks for explaining. Now I’ll need a huge icemaker! <G>
Thank you Becky for this report. I have fond memories of Cheekwood-but
never been in the house.
The arrangements were beautiful and the mechanics fascinating.
Look what awaited me upon my arrival at my daughter’s for Easter…I’ll
have to get out the ice cubes. Thank you Sally!
Jackie Turbidy
On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 8:38 AM daffnet <
> wrote:
On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 8:38 AM daffnet <
> wrote: