Maybe as a kid you wanted to try a little gardening, but there was always something good on television Bugs Bunny, the Cosby Show or ER.

Or maybe you're suddenly worried about feeding yourself during a possible apocalypse and haven't a clue which end of a garden shovel is up.

Or you love gardening, but your flowers always flop when you arrange them.

There are many reasons for greening-up your life, and the best place for advice on gardening is possibly the Garden Club of Bermuda.

They offer weekly garden meetings, plant exchanges, speakers, courses, competitions and even horticultural scholarships.

They also raise money for local charities such as Buy Back Bermuda.

That's why this week The Royal Gazette Lifestyle section kicks off a four-part series about different aspects of gardening with the Bermuda Garden Club, starting with flower arranging.

Flower arranging may sound like a tame hobby, but it is not without its challenges.

Transporting a five-foot 'Bermuda Triangle' plus sundry leaves to the United States without losing anything, would be one.

The wire triangle decorated with little white paper tiles to represent a Bermuda roof was part of a Bermuda-themed flower arrangement that Garden Club members Debbie Burville, Susan Conyers, Cindy Young and Deanna Moss were entering into the World Association of Flower Arrangers (WAFA) convention in Chicago, Illinois later this month.

Unfortunately, just on the way from Mrs. Burville's kitchen to her front porch, the wire Bermuda Triangle kept collapsing into more of a Bermuda rectangle.

And little paper tiles kept dropping off.

Mrs. Conyers, floral arts chairman of the Garden Club, said the mechanics of an arrangement is something that flower arrangers often struggle with, particularly newcomers.

"If the mechanics don't work, nothing works," said Mrs. Conyers. "The mechanics are what keeps everything together in the arrangement. If they are not sturdy, everything will fall apart. It has happened to all of us."

Mrs. Young, Garden Club correspondence secretary, said not only do you have to hold the arrangement together, but in traditional designs you have to keep how you did it a secret.

"You have to try and get the mechanics good, but they have to be camouflaged," she said.

"You learn through experience and trial and error," said Mrs. Burville.

Mrs. Burville also said that flower arrangers had to be careful about the size of their vase or container compared to the exhibition space, which is often restricted.

"We tend to be innovative with our containers," she said. "We have made things out of PVC pipe or tuna fish tins."

She said taking an arrangement as far as the United States could be difficult, to put it mildly.

"One of the biggest challenges of getting an arrangement away is get the phytosanitary certificates," said Mrs. Young. "That is always a bit of a nightmare.

"The arrangement has to be inspected to make sure there are no bugs. We have to do all the treating ourselves. We have to scrub all the leaves and wash them up with something, such as dish washing liquid or lysol.

"The floral bits are eventually inspected by a microscope."

And the floral bits in the arrangement itself can be unpredictable, suddenly shrivelling up when you least expect it.

And disaster can strike in a heart beat, as Mrs. Burville found during one show.

"I did an arrangement that involved a big disc," she said. "At home, I glued it. But when I got to the United States, my brother-in-law, who works in the film industry, said it was better to hold it down with heavy-duty velcro.

"When I went to put it up it had gotten dirty, and as the judges were walking down to judge, the velcro suddenly failed and the back fell off. I should have stuck with my original plan."

A year ago, the four ladies qualified to become flower arrangement judges accredited by the National Association of Flower Arranging.

To do this, they had to study for two years. Various experts were flown in from around the world to lecture.

Mrs. Burville described exam day as the day from hell.

"Fourteen of us started the course," she said. "Five dropped out. Eight took the exam and four passed. It was a very rigorous two years."

In the end, the four were told their pass rate was better than average.

The judging qualifications allowed them to teach, judge and also to attend and compete in certain international flower arranging competitions.

They will be representing Bermuda in the WAFA show along with other flower arrangers from 21 different countries.

All of the ladies started flower arranging through courses offered by the Garden Club.

"I quit my job and joined the Garden Club," said Mrs. Conyers. She previously worked at Peniston Brown & Co. Ltd.

Mrs. Young, who retired after 20 years working as a secretary at Bacardi, said starting with the Garden Club allowed her competitive juices to flow.

"At our monthly meetings there are exhibit benches which are like competitions," she said. "There are categories and classes you can enter. When you start competing it opens up a whole new area."

Mrs. Conyers said it is a way to keep your mind active.

"It is ever-evolving and changing," she said. "We are close to floristry, but we are more competitive, and more out there. We don't have to worry about selling something or putting it on a coffee table."

The Garden Club will start more flower arranging courses in November.

"We would like to get younger people enthusiastic about flower arranging," said Deanna Moss, vice president of the Garden Club. "Unfortunately, the Garden Club tends to have an older membership because most people wait until they retire.

"We really need young people, otherwise we will eventually fade away."

Mrs. Burville said the Garden Club is trying to make it easier for people to join.

"You only have to attend one meeting to be eligible to join," she said. "We recognise that people work. The meetings are always the second Friday of every month, October through May."

For more information visit www.gardenclubbermuda.org or telephone 232-1273.

Basic supplies for flower arranging:

Green floral tape

Blocks of oasis foam

Chicken wire used to cover the oasis

Small plastic floral containers

Good quality scissors.