Thursday, May 8, 2014

Trip to Natural Decorations, Inc.

     On Thursday, May 8, 2014, the Monroeville Garden Club traveled to Natural Decorations, Inc. in Brewton, Alabama.  Members who made the trip were Dana Shinholster, Patsy Wadlington, Audrey Griffin, Gail Touchton, Bev Colquett, Evelyn Bond, Jean Booker, Nancy Ziebach and guests, Cathy Boyd and Bebe Jackson.

     For 50 years, NDI has been the "premier provider of the finest floral and botanical reproductions in the world".  Members met with one of the designers who talked about the process of making new floral arrangements.  His work area has "wall to wall" flowers grouped by kind and then by color as well as various containers so that he can easily select materials for new designs.  The silk flower stems used are botanically correct and for the most part are all handmade.  Once a design has been formulated, it can be sent into the plant for duplication.

     Each day workers use orders to pull materials needed for an arrangement  and deliver to a station where another worker follows a design picture to re-create the arrangement.  From there the completed arrangement goes to shipping.

     According to the NDI website, NDI creations "have been used in high end department stores, movie and television studio sets, celebrity homes, and in many other venues such as the Oscars, The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, and the White House".

     After touring NDI, members ate lunch at the Brewton Country Club and then stopped by the NDI retail store, "The Cracked Pot" before heading home.

     After a summer break, the garden club will reconvene in September.

Our tour group

NDI designer

The workroom of the designer has one flower of each kind they have to help
him as he decides on materials to use in his design.

Audrey Griffin looks on as a worker puts together an arrangement.

A work cart which is loaded with materials to make the arrangement listed
on the order form.

The designer demonstrates filling a container with foam as a base for an arrangement.

Workers demonstrating the packing process

Work Days Around the Square

      Charlotte and others from garden club worked on the Katherine Lee Rose Garden on Thursday, February 15th .  They worked so hard that n...