The Bedford Garden Club will meet at the Bedford Fields Garden Center, 341 Hwy 101, Bedford, New Hampshire, on Monday, January 21. Members gather for a social at 9:15 a.m. and for a business meeting at 9:45 p.m. At 10 a.m. the program begins.
Antoinette Drouart of Ikebana Flower, Nashua, New Hampshire, will demonstrate Japanese flower arrangements. This teacher/floral designer has lived in Japan and France. Drouart has received formal training in Japanese Flower Arrangements and holds certificates from the Ikebana Sogetsu School headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Ikebana, which literally means, "living flowers" and refers to the Japanese way of arranging flowers for aesthetic enjoyment, can be traced to the Buddhist religion and culture.
By the sixteenth century, ikebana masters introduced a new kind of architecture and interior decoration, which included reed-mat floors and an alcove that featured a hanging scroll and a flower arrangement attuned to the season. Such a use of flowers remains a facet of contemporary Japanese culture.
Prospective members are welcome to attend this meeting. For more information, contact Beverly Jo Snyder at 472-2603.