Flower Power : Floriade III at Banning Residence Museum Is More Than a Blooming Fund-Raiser
It was quite a sight--especially indoors: 400 yards of ivory tulle draped 20-foot birch trees lining a hallway, 50 canaries in gilded cages serenaded the parlor, and boxwood studded with gardenias framed the archways.
Three years later, everything’s coming up roses . . . and tulips, delphiniums and camellias as Floriade returns to the Banning Residence Museum. Next weekend, the pick of L.A.’s flower arrangers will deck the halls and 18 rooms of the Wilmington mansion. In addition to indoor blooms, Floriade III will feature demonstrations, landscape displays and interior designs.
In preparation, florists met at the museum last month to draw rooms. Because of size and visibility, the ground-floor rooms of the three-story mansion are considered the most prestigious.
“I was disappointed, excited and grateful all at the same time,” says Wayne Woods, designer for the Four Seasons hotel, who drew the back porch.
For Woods and fellow arrangers, Floriade--held every three years and named for a major European flower exhibition--is an opportunity to display their work and an informal competition among the creme de la stem of Southern California florists.
Since air conditioning wasn’t standard 19th-Century fare, florists have to work at keeping the blooms fresh. “We go back every day and replace whatever is wilted,” says Joy Myerscough, owner of Flourish & Garlande, who drew the boy’s room. “And as we design, we choose flowers we think will last through the event.”
Gen. Phineas Banning would approve of the elaborate party planning. In between forging stagecoach and rail lines, the entrepreneur entertained lavishly at his Greek Revival mansion.
During one remodel, the basement was turned into a ballroom. For a three-day wedding, Banning brought guests from all over California by carriage and buckboard.
“They called them regales back then,” says Floriade organizer and garden supporter Carol Richards. “It was a great compliment to be invited.In the 1870s, Richards’ grandmother described parties at the Banning home in her diary.
Now that the mansion has been restored to its 19th-Century splendor, the next projects are the historic barn and gardens. According to Floriade III chairman Pamela Clyne, the fund-raiser’s goal is $250,000. The restoration is in the hands of Emmet L. Wemple & Associates, who landscaped the J. Paul Getty and Workman Temple Family Homestead museums.
Weather permitting, Floriade III attendees will get to see and smell the first stage of the project: 300 rose bushes.
Floribunda in abunda are guaranteed to inspire budding arrangers, so noted garden authorities will be on hand to lecture and demonstrate--like Manisse Newell, a San Francisco floral designer whose clients have included celebrities and heads of state.
Flower arranging for the rich and famous, she says, poses unique challenges. When Queen Elizabeth visited San Francisco, Newell filled huge urns with flowers. “Up came four FBI agents with hats and trench coats searching the urns for bombs,” she recalls. “I was forced to redo and repair.”
Tulips of all colors are the topic of a lecture by Eric Haskell, a professor at Scripps College. If you think flower prices are high now, consider 17th-Century Holland. Tulip bulbs created such a frenzy after they were introduced from Turkey in the 1630s that they were traded on the Dutch stock market.
“Prices skyrocketed overnight,” says Haskell. “A single Viceroy tulip bulb fetched 2 loads of wheat, 4 loads of rye, 4 fat oxen, 8 pigs, 2 hog’s heads of wine, 4 barrels of beer, 2 barrels of butter, 1,000 pounds of cheese, a complete bedroom set, a suit of clothes and a silver beaker.”
According to Haskell, three years of “tulipomania” ended in a stock market crash and near economic ruin. To this day, the Dutch government regulates tulip prices.
The historic stagecoach barn will be outfitted for the occasion with heirlooms of pioneer Los Angeles families. With the museum’s restored carriage collection as a backdrop, interior designers led by Tony Duquette and Hutton Wilkinson will create a series of holiday settings.
Wagon and wheelwright Don Blanks has restored vehicles ranging from a lady’s runabout with a wide berth “so you can get a dress in” to a 1906 formal carriage with coachman’s seat, silk headliner and beveled glass windows. Through months of hand brushing and careful workmanship, Blanks unearthed many clues about the carriages’ original owners.
“Whoever sat back here was a very heavy person,” he says pointing to the rear seat of a 1870 surrey with 16-spoke rear wheels. “He broke the sub-frame.”
Floriade III at a Glance Floriade III will be held May 1-3 at the Banning Residence Museum, 401 East M St., Wilmington. Information: (310) 548-7777.
The first day is for group tours only. Admission: $8, adults; $15 to $25 for demonstrations and lectures.
Lectures include: “William and Mary’s Palace Gardens at Het Loo” by Eric Haskell; “Living With Flowers” by J. Barry Ferguson; “The Garden Pot: Container Gardening in the Sun and Shade” by Dr. James Folsom, and “Edible Flowers” by Susan Kranwinckle.
