Arrangement by instructor Sarah von Pollaro
“She was like some rare flower grown for exhibition, a flower from which every bud had been nipped except the crowning blossom of her beauty.” —Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth
Gilded Age novelists and poets eloquently drew on flowers and floral symbolism to convey moods and settings, deepen characterizations and themes, and for the sheer beauty they represent. Floral designer Sarah von Pollaro leads a series in which works by three of the period’s authors provide the inspiration for floral designs.
Floral imagery is richly used in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (whose heroine is Lily Bart) and The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (which features a key character named Pansy), novels in which an independent-minded woman confronts the limitations of what might be termed the “hothouse” of Victorian society. Emily Dickinson, whose work was first published in 1890, was an avid gardener whose poetry includes many references to flowers.
Von Pollaro focuses on a different author each session, whose writing sets the theme for the flowers, greens, and vases participants use to create beautiful arrangements. Learn fundamental techniques in floral design as well as handy tips and tricks to bring your own floral masterpieces to life.
Von Pollaro, owner of Urban Petals Floral Design and SVP Flowers, has been called “the Julia Child of flowers.” She demystifies the classical art of floral design so that anyone on any budget can experience the joy of creating and living with flowers.
No experience is necessary. Participants take home centerpiece-sized arrangements at the end of each class.
A $75 supply fee, payable to the instructor at the first class, covers the cost of flowers, greens, and vases for all three sessions. Period-style refreshments are served.
3 sessions, 2 hours each
Other Connections
“I was reared in the garden, you know,” Emily Dickinson wrote in an April 1859 letter to her cousin Louisa Norcross. Learn how the cultivated world of plants, as well as the wildflowers, trees, and shrubs that made up Emily Dickinson’s Amherst, provided the poet with a constant source of inspiration and companionship.
