We headed out to Historic Alsmeer for a workshop with Rob Plattel. Rob guided us on a exploration of “decorative” versus “vegetative” design. We created containers out of sticks and bark filled
with the most glorious flowers. We examined how to build arrangements which were sensitive to the structure and natural growing patterns of the flowers. Rob provided us with helpful critique of our designs. It was amazing to see how different the arrangements looked which all started with the same materials.
We had a fabulous tour of the original Alsmeer flower auction and historic flower gardens and greenhouses. We saw where the farmers used to bring their boats filled with flowers to be auctioned. This region is a large lilac growing area. (Lilacs are Victoria’s favorite flower!) We were particularly enjoyed seeing a demonstration of how lilacs are grafted. Some even used cuttings from plants dating back to the 1600s .
Rob arranged for us to take a boat ride through the canals surrounding Alsmeer. Exploring the canals on a beautiful spring afternoon was one of the highlights of the trip. We saw lilacs growing on island plots, antique dutch homes and families on picnics.
More of the Magic of the trip!
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