Flower Ladies at Catawba Valley Pottery Festival

Arrangement at the entrance to the Festival.

I was a vendor this past weekend in Hickory at the Catawba Valley Pottery and Antique Festival selling antiques and pottery.  This annual show is always eye candy for pottery lovers but also for flower lovers.

Making a floral arrangement.

Making a floral arrangement.

Three sisters from the area volunteer each year to make flower arrangements for the entrance to the show and for the dinner tables. Volunteers bring in an assortment of raw materials for the sisters to use.

Lenten rose or hellebores.

Contorted hazel branches.

 But the fun part for me are the arrangements they make for the individual booths.

Vendors take a piece of pottery to the sisters, and they design an arrangement in that piece and bring it back to your booth. 

One of the "flower ladies" in my booth.  Notice the arrangement in my green vase.

Even if you are not a pottery collector enjoying the floral arrangements is worth the admission to the Festival each March.  

Hellebores Blooming Now

Our Hellebores are blooming.

Hellebores are great shade plants and especially nice because in our grow zone they bloom in winter. The foliage is attractive and green all year round.  I've even cut a few blossoms to bring indoors.  Check out the many different varieties available at White Flower Farm. I want to order some of the more exotic varieties.

Winter Thriller Grape Galaxy (Photo from White Flower Farm website).

Winter Thrillers Green Gambler (Photo from White Flower Farm website).

Winter Thrillers Red Racer (Photo from White Flower Farm website).

Our hellebores are the common variety, Helleborus niger.  These are sometimes called Lenten rose or Christmas rose, but they are not members of the rose family.  The colored parts are not petals but actually sepals, and they can remain on the plant for several months.

It's nice to have fresh flowers from the garden in the winter.