Leading floral designer wows Garden Club with fanciful arrangements

BY LIZA STROUT - Hitomi Gilliam, the world's leading edge floral designer, gave a presentation to the Boca Grande Garden Club this Wednesday, demonstrating new techniques in flower arranging and products that have become available in just the last few years.

To many gasps, both of shock and admiration, Gilliam pared flowers and greenery back to their most simple forms and lines.

"There is a saying, you only need a single blade of grass to tell which direction the wind blows," she told the capacity crowd in the community center auditorium. This simplicity was evident in the various arrangements that she created.View More images >>

She demonstrated the three styles of traditional Japanese flower artistry, or ikebana, vertical, angled and cascading along with several traditional and non-traditional Western styles.

After the demonstration, the group moved to the Woman's Club Room for a tea and a chance to meet with Gilliam, and to bid on her creations in a silent auction.

On Thursday morning, Gilliam led a full class at the Power House, "Applying New Concepts in Floral Arrangements."