This past weekend, we hosted our very first peony workshop at the farm! My dear friend Gretchen, who is a potter, and I collaborated for this one as she made the beautiful porcelain vases we used as our vessel during the workshop. I have to say that I was very nervous leading up to the workshop; I’m uncomfortable with public speaking and presenting myself as an expert in anything but every single participant was so kind, enthusiastic and supportive that I felt at ease almost immediately.
The peonies were really showing off and we had a variety of colors and types for everyone to choose from!
After walking the field, we came back and had a little snack before starting to arrange. Gretchen made delicious sandwiches and I made cupcakes to resemble a peony. A lifelong friend, Kathleen, who owns a cookie decorating business, made darling and delicious peony cookies! I made peony lemonade with peony simple syrup (that color is natural!). We also had goat cheese topped with Flowerfetti and our first harvest of honey! We served the goat cheese with floral crackers.
Gretchen’s vases were a pale pink ombre that perfectly complimented the peonies.
Once everyone got to work creating their arrangements, we were thrilled to see how beautiful each one was. It’s always fascinating to me to see how the same flowers can look so different in an arrangement. It is such a personal thing to arrange flowers!
We truly couldn’t have asked for a better group for our inaugural workshop and we are so thankful for everyone taking time out of their holiday weekend to come and spend the afternoon with us!
