Floral artist Georgie Malyon creates a sublime table centrepiece to get you pumped for a magnificent Matariki banquet.
1 Matariki falls between June 19 and July 11 this year. It’s a wonderful opportunity to gather together with friends and family, and this seasonal centrepiece will only enhance your festivities. Plus you get to use a drill! You’ll also need candles, pumpkins in a range of sizes, and flowers and foliage – I used orchids, lunaria, chrysanthemums, lavender and dried ferns.
2 Start by drilling holes in your pumpkins. You’ll need to use drill bits large enough to make holes that will fit your plant stems and candles. Aim for around three or four holes per pumpkin.
3 Arrange your holey pumpkins along the centre of your table (you could also display them on a mantelpiece). Create a range of shapes and heights by lying some of the pumpkins on their sides or by stacking small pumpkins on top of larger ones.
4 Insert individual stems of flowers and foliage into the holes, leaving some free for candles. (If you’re using fresh flowers and you don’t want them to wilt, you could also pour a little water into the holes.) Slot the candles into the remaining empty holes.
5 The beauty of this arrangement is that you can easily move your pumpkin vases around as needed to complement the layout of your food – have fun! And when the festivities have ended, you can chop up the pumpkins (discard any pieces with candle wax) and make a pot of warming pumpkin soup
