Download Wildflowers shine at Sydney Royal Bettina Gollnow `Beauty Down

Wildflowers shine at Sydney Royal
Bettina Gollnow
‘Beauty Down Under’ was the theme for the 2015 Sydney Royal Flower & Garden
Show. Many wildflower and foliage products starred, as florists and floral artists
competed in a number of competition. These highlighted the rich texture and form
that florist’s love about Australian and South African flowers.
Several huge installations throughout the Flower & Garden pavilion were designed
by David Berger from SWSi Floristry Padstow and constructed by David with the help
of Jessica Peters, WorldSkills Australian representative.
David had been commissioned by the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) to design and
create these Australian Native and Wildflower displays. ‘I wanted to draw on the
texture and colours of the bush, so chose materials to reflect this’, he said. ‘Banksia
and Melaleuca branches were the foundations of the displays’. These also featured
gymea lily leaves, various banksias and proteas, leucadendrons and foliage like
gum and woolly bush. Splashes of colour came from dyed orange banksias, dyed
red Stirlingia and fresh red Beaufortia, and vibrant yellow dancing lady orchids.
Jessica along with her mother Claire, David and his wife Marina constructed all the
displays over one day and one evening. David has been training Jessica for
Worldskills and recently they went to the Oceania competition in New Zealand
where she received a Gold medal.
A massive display was also created by David on Interflora Australia’s behalf. This
could be viewed from all sides and attracted much attention. ‘I created a garden
using some very rare species of Australian Flora, for example the Christmas Bells were
photographed hundreds of times. In this display I used 5m tall branches to make two
large “trees” under which all the materials were placed’. ‘A bench seat was placed
so people could take a photo, and this proved to be a popular idea’, he added.
This year’s Interflora Australia Competition saw over 25 competitors enter for the
Florist of the Year and Florist of the Future awards. They created designs to the
themes ‘Innovation’ (a corporate design), ‘Duplication’ (a prototype bouquet),
‘Fascination’ (a floral fascinator) and a surprise ‘Manipulation’ using flexible
materials. For the ‘Rising Star’ competition, entrants created ‘Celebration’, a
bouquet that included a box of Celebration chocolates.
These were all done on stage at the Show, with David providing commentary, and
attracted a large audience.
Wildflower product used was contributed by wildflower industry members East Coast
Wildflowers, the Wildflower Industry Network of NSW, WAFEX, The Banksia Company
and stand holders at the Sydney Flower Market.
Craig Scott from East Coast Wildflowers also built a magnificent display to showcase
his extensive product range. Impressive displays were also created by students at
several TAFE Institutes.
The Smithers-Oasis Designz Cup NSW Competition attracted some innovative works
addressing the brief of creating a display interpreting ‘Beauty down under’. The
Professional Florists Association of NSW also held a competition in conjunction with
this year’s Show.
Floral artists competed in several categories, including ‘The Great Barrier Reef’,
‘Form, Texture and Space’, ‘Sticks, Stones & Succulents’, ‘Wild About Leaves’ and
‘Outback Bride’.
RESULTS FROM THE 2015 SMITHERS-OASIS DESIGNZ CUP COMPETITION
1st Place - Meredith Lucia - North Sydney Institute, Ryde College
2nd Place - Xiaoling Lin - Sydney Institute, Ultimo College
3rd Place - Verity Mathews - South Western Sydney Institute, Padstow College
H/C - Jill Scott - Hunter Institute, Kurri Kurri Campus
RESULTS FROM THE 2015 INTERFLORA AUSTRALIA COMPETITIONS
The Rising Star Competition
1st Place – Duc Thuan Biu, Flowers for Everyone, Homebush
2nd Place – Caroline Arms, Wendy Raines Shire Florist, Caringbah
The Florist of the Future Competition
1st Place – Cassie Johnson, Warners Bay Florist, Warners Bay
2nd Place – Stevie Mitchell, East Maitland Florist, East Maitland
The Florist of the Year Competition
1st Place – Jeff Smith, Flowers for Everyone, Sydney
2nd Place – Helen Mitchell, Manning Florist, Taree
3rd Place – Alison Elford, Alstonville Florist, Alstonville
RESULTS FROM THE 2015 PROFESSIONAL FLORISTS ASSOCIATION
OF NSW COMPETITION
1st Place - Truc Ngoc Nguyen
2nd Place - Brett Atkinson