The Flower Arrangers of Collington

Here is the history of our wonderful flowers, arranged fresh each week by the Flower Committee, together with notes provided by the Committee:

September 3, 2017

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Zinnias from Our Very Own Hilltop Gardens!

This vibrant arrangement of zinnias can be found in our dining room.   The vase itself is a multifaceted gem and can hardly be appreciated in the picture.

The flowers were provided by green thumbs of our resident gardeners from the Hilltop Gardens.  These wonderful people grow them and others all spring, summer and fall for our talented flower committee to arrange and display throughout our community building.

According to A. E. Powell, zinnias represent “friendly thoughts and earnest good wishes thus create and maintain what is practically a guardian angel, always at the side of the person thought of.”   If you wish to learn more about the language of flowers, I highly recommend Flowers, the Angels’ Alphabet – The Language and Poetry of Flowers, by Susan Loy.

July 30, 2017

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Residents gathered late in July to remember the founder of Collington’s Flower Committee, Penny Vickery.  It was she who insisted on using only fresh flowers at Collington.  Since Penny’s favorite color was pink, the flower arrangement created for the gathering’s refreshment table included commercially grown pink roses,  Matsumoto asters,  and larkspur. From Collington’s own gardens came colorful Leucothoe foliage, pink crape myrtle, phlox, and purple statice.

June 27, 2017

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Have you wondered where the Flower Committee gets its materials for its arrangements? You probably know that we purchase some flowers and greens from a wholesale florist, and funeral parlors donate flowers for us to use.
We are trying to use locally grown flowers and greens as much as possible, and the arrangement in the Clocktower Lobby this week is an example of this. The greens are Aucuba “Gold Dust” grown at cottage 2101. The small white flower is Feverfew, growing at 2217. It is a traditional medicinal herb used to prevent migraine headaches, says Wikipedia. The yellow stuff is Solidago, also known as Goldenrod. Contrary to popular belief, it does not cause Hay Fever; It’s Ragweed that blooms in the fall at the same time that is the culprit. The orange carnations were on sale last week at  wholesale florist and are also being used on the dining room tables.  We look forward to zinnias and other flowers from the hilltop garden soon.