Seren was immediately impressed with the discussion that was taking place, there was much agreeing on some characteristics, but also some interesting ideas and much variety. Success! She'd nodded, acknowledging Rhodes' example of Juniper, as well as well as Lana's examples of laurel and privet, "yes, excellent," she encouraged, sweeping the group with bright eyes. A number of students seemed to get caught up on the basics, super super basics of it all. Bushes. Bushes... were a generalisation, yes, but far too general, "need a bit more detail, dears," she had replied to Cutty, Marigold, Astrid and two additional new students whose names she hadn't learnt yet (Josette and Gwenhwyfar).

Olly, Slytherin Sophie and Romulus were on the right track with Boxwood, and they each received two thumbs up for their response. Wonderful, wonderful.

And then there were lesser genius ideas....

Big green plants. "That's one way of looking at it," she replied, lips pursed, concerned with the boys vagueness. Honestly, bushes had been a better response than that. And what in the name of?.....

"Mister Marooon!" Seren called out as he started chasing the frog. "Park your bottom on the grass please, and leave it there!... this is your only warning." Or did he want to forfeit his topiary riding privileges? Hhhhhhmmmm?

Regardless... time to continue.

Trust Lex to come up with stating the obvious, in such an amusing and appreciative way. She supposed many would agree with the statement, art least, Alice did. "Yesss... that's very sound advice, thank you..." so no to flesh eaters and other lesser friendly flora. Alice then went on to mention small foliage, and Seren nodded enthusiastically. The idea supported by Leah, also. "Yes, very good."

Hand in hand with small foliage, came dense foliage, or as Caleb had put it - fluffy plants. He, as well as his more articulate peers - Ella, Lux, Delilah, Jun and Tessa received affirming nods, "Yess, density is key for achieving a consistent and smooth finish... otherwise you end up with gnarly gaps which frankly, look terrible." And speaking of things that would look terrible and just not work at all. Bonsai? BONSAI? Seren exchanged a look with Tora before shaking her head gently. Nope.

Again, more basic terms were thrown around, though this one was perhaps incorrectly used. Was it just her? Or did it sound like a number of the students thought that hedges were a species of bush... as opposed to a collection or wall of bushes? Oichi, Raven and Theo... bless them, received unconvinced looks, "you're on the right track, but need to be more specific." There was nothing wrong with being general, but you needed to be correct in your generalness for it to suffice. Kace, Mo, Mitchell, Bri and a first year Snake she didn't know the name of (Grace) were on the right track with that, some elaborating more beyond the point of saying evergreen. But, "Yes, absolutely correct... evergreens are among the more popular for topiary work, they hold their shape nicely and can resist some of the harsher climates too."

"Conifers, certainly," Seren nodded, agreeing with Michael's answer of cone shaped trees - how very technical of him. Hehe. Some other responses though, didn't hit the mark. Eyes on the quiet Ravenclaw girl, the new one that had been looking unimpressed at the beginning of the lesson (Caelen), Seren listened patiently to her response. Maple? Topiary... with maple? or indeed anything that would hold it's shape. Adi too seemed to be thinking along the same lines "No, not maple unfortunately.. and not quite anything that will hold it's shape. Remember that the shape needs to support dense growth of foliage otherwise the shapes we are able to create become limited and less appealing." So not quite. Not quite.

Alex recieved a nod for her example of holly, as did Ben for his example of ivy... both very good for topiary work. Hazel, on the other hand, received an eyebrow raise in response to her erm... that, wasn't a legitimate response, she'd get the hang of it, so moving on. "Yes, certainly, strong branches, but often more to the point, a strong trunk or base.." she nodded, acknowledging Robin's, Sander's and a new Slytherin girls (Isabelle) responses. Tobias too seemed to be hitting all the marks, and essentially offered them a perfect summary. But considering he was so apt with herbology, she wanted more from him, she expected more from him. It was time to raise the bar, "excellent, but more specifics would be nice," she encouraged. Examples examples examples!

And now they'd transitioned to a very good point in conversation, and it began with Beverly's response. "Herbs! Yes!" Seren echoed enthusiastically. "So very versatile and perfect for indoors," she added. Silver's examples of dwarf myrtle and rosemary supported Beverly's response, as did Sarah's lavender.. as for elite... elite? "Oh.. you mean lilly pilly, yes?" she asked, only to have Anastasia confirm her suspicions, the Slytherin offering it as a response also.

The few students who had sat or stood quietly hadn't escaped her notice, but she was content with them simply listening in if they weren't all that comfortable with jumping in. And speaking of sitting and standing, Seren too sat down on the ground, the grass.. and motioned for those still standing to do the same. Seeeeeee, this was nice. It was almost like a picnic, minus the blanket and the food.

"Wonderful discussion.." she said warmly, beaming at them all. "One thing we haven't really touched on, are magical brands of trees and shrubs that may be used for topiary, though even in the wizarding world, their mundane counterparts are still preferred." She paused here to adjust her crossed legs. "Wiggenbushes and flutterbys are among some of our more versatile for the art form... but of course wand trees and bushes or shrubs with adequate density and foliage size are more suitable."

"Another thing we need to consider with topiary, is it's purpose... it's function... why do we bother to create topiary?" she asked, before adding another question into the mix, "we mentioned herbs earlier, and how they're also used for indoor arrangements, so we can characterise topiary into one of two categories, or three if you want to be technical... indoor versus outdoor... so why might we need to distinguish between the two?"

OOC: Lesson will continue in approx 24 hours