Hostessing the Garden Club

Once a year, I host the Garden Club. It's always fun to have other gardeners come to Linderhof and I always enjoy company whether it's for lunch or dinner or a party or hosting a meeting.

This meeting, not only was I hostess (providing the location) but the co-hostess (providing the refreshments) and program (The Gardens of England) as well!!!

Refreshments were a recreation of an English Cream Tea since the program was on English gardens.

Because we needed the dining room table for the program, the refreshments were set up in the breakfast room.

With, of course, my beloved blue and white.

Before the guests arrived I had the table all set up. A lace cloth, a Blue Spode pitcher filled with hydrangeas and the tea things . . .

Two teapots for one would not be enough -- both Spode -- one Blue Italian and one Blue Room.

The cups and saucers with "tea" spoons nestled on the saucer. Spode Blue Room.

And an assortment of blue and white plates each topped with a napkin --

And after the program and the meeting, the cream tea was ready . . . .

With my smaller silver curate full of scones, bread and butter or mother of pearl tea knives for the cream and jam. Strawberry jam, of course (with a new preserve spoon that I had brought home from English trip), a mother of pearl handled cake fork for the scones and the best "mock" Devonshire cream.

The Garden Club loved the program, devoured the scones, emptied two bowls of cream and jam and drank four pots of tea -- real English tea (P.G. Tips) -- brewed the proper English way!

It's Tuesday and so I'm sharing my Garden Club Cream Tea with the following tea parties:

Tea Time Tuesday with Terri at Artful Affirmations

Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha at Martha's Favorites

Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday with Pam at Breath of Fresh Air

Tea Time Tuesday with Katherine at Lady Katherine's Tea Parlor

Tuesday Tea for Two with Wanda Lee at The Plumed Pen

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage