Floral Design

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Chapter 7

• Floral Design

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• The use of flowers in gardens and homes is
  well-documented through most of all recorded
  history.
• American floral design is now the worldwide
  pacesetter for stylized arrangements.
• We use flowers to express our joys and our
  sympathies.

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Things or events flowers highlight

• Birth of a child
• Holidays
• The first dance
• Weddings
• Anniversaries
• Deaths

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Difference between art and craft?

• Art is the creation of new and harmonious
  relationships among lines and forms artists use
  living materials instead of paint or stone.
• Craft can be taught. Yet as with any skill,
  practitioners will help develop a greater
  proficiency than others.

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5 cutting tools in Floral Design

• Knife short blade that will hold an edge helps
  prevent cut fingers.
• Florist shears short blade with serrated edges
  cuts both herbaceous and woody plant material.

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• Pruning shears have two cutting blades and are
  used for cutting woody material.
• Ribbon shears similar to ordinary scissors in
  appearance.
• Styrofoam cutter a widely serrated cutting edge
  makes it suitable for cutting styrofoam.

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Wiring Materials

• Florist wire wire is used to support weak
  flower and stems and to hold curved lines in
  arrangements.
• Chenille stems used for decorative purposes and
  to provide water to corsage.

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• Spool wire used to wire arrangements such as
  wreaths and door swags.
• Twistems fill a number of roles where support
  or repair is needed.

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• Wooden picks can be fastened to stems or other
  materials and inserted into a holding substance.
• Metal picks similar to wooden picks
• and are dispersed from a machine.

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Adhesive Materials

• Floral tape used to wrap flower stems when wire
  is needed for their support.
• Waterproof tape most common use is to hold stem
  support material.
• Florist clay waterproof material, used to hold
  pinpoint stem holders in place within a container.

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• Styrofoam glue this material is a strong
  adhesive without dissolving styrofoam.
• Hot glue gun glue is inserted as a solid stick
  into the gun, heated electrically and dispensed
  in a liquid state which quickly cools and
  hardens.

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Stem support Materials

• Block styrofoam Used as a dry base for dried and
  permanent arrangements it cannot be used with
  fresh flowers. The styrofoam can be cut into
  particular shapes with a styrofoam cutter or it
  can be purchased already formed in different
  shapes.
• Shredded styrofoam It is sometimes used to hold
  dried, silk, and plastic flowers and foliage,
  especially in tall containers. Water can be added
  to the styrofoam if fresh flowers are used, i.e.,
  for long-stemmed roses in a tall vase.

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• Chicken wire - This type of wire has up to a
  one-inch mesh and can be rolled into a ball and
  placed into a container. Stems are then inserted
  into the folded mesh. This is usually utilized
  only with larger containers.
• Pinpoint holders - Also known as "frogs" or "pin
  holders," these are constructed out of metal or
  heavy plastic and held in a container with
  florist clay, with stems being pressed onto the
  pins. These are used more often by consumers than
  by professional florists, and they are reusable.

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• Water-holding foams most common material used.
  Lightweight, soft, and porous material that holds
  flower stems in a fixed position while letting
  them absorb water.
• Glass pebbles and marbles made of clear glass
  or opaque black, the marbles are used to support
  long stems in tall vase arrangements.
• Plastic grids snap on the top of vases and some
  novelty containers and hold flower stems in
  position.

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• Among the changes that have elevated public
  appreciation of floral arrangements has been the
  imaginative use of containers.
• A container holding fresh flowers needs to be
  able to hold water, but if it cannot it must
  contain water-filled foam wrapped in waterproof
  foil and be set in a fixed place.

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• Am important quality of all containers is that
  they not detract from the overall arrangement and
  the beauty of its plant materials.
• Flowers must be attended to immediately on
  arrival or the perishable product may be lost,
  and with it the florists investment.

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Upon arrival most cut flowers receive

• Nutrition for continued good health
• Water to prevent wilting
• Cool temperatures to slow their metabolic
  activity and prolong their lives.

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• Warm water is preferable to cold because the
  flowers can absorb it more quickly.
• Most of the materials that are visible in an
  arrangement are flowers and foliage.
• Because floral design, like all design, is
  personal, it is difficult to evaluate.

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• Reasons floral design is difficult to evaluate.
• Every customer wants something has different
  desires.
• Different florists have different opinions.
• Lack of common ground

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• The kinds of flowers and foliage used should be
  limited too many shapes and textures can
  over-complicate the design.
• Focal point is the point of greatest visual
  attraction in a floral design. It is usually the
  point where the major lines of design coverage
  are, generally the center of an arrangement.

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Types of arrangement materials

• 1. Line
• Thin
• Vertical
• Tapered
• Used to create the basic shape of the arrangement
• Most effective at outer edges of the arrangement

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• 2. Mass
• Rounded
• Used at the center of arrangement
• 3. Form
• Uncommon shapes
• Unusual silhouettes
• Seldom mixed with other form materials

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• 4. Filler
• Used to fill in between line and mass materials
• Often has many blossoms or small leaves on a
  single stem

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Three size relationships to consider

• Relationship among flowers and other materials
  Must use appropriate flower sizes in order to
  create good transition.
• Relationship between flowers and their containers
  Neither should overpower or dwarf the other.
• Relationship between the finished arrangement and
  the situation in which it will be used make
  sure the size of the arrangement is appropriate
  ex. A table arrangement should not encroach on
  the plates youre eating from.

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• Balance describes what the viewer needs to see on
  each side of center.
• Two common types of balance
• Symmetrical
• Asymmetrical

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• Symmetrical arrangements, if bisected by a line
  (axis) running from the vertical tip through the
  base of the container, has flowers and foliage in
  almost exactly the same places on opposite sides

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• Asymmetrical arrangements have an axis, but it
  may or may not bisect the container equally.

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Standard patterns of floral arrangements
Round
Oval
Rectangle
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Cont.d
Asymmetrical Triangle
Symmetrical Triangle
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Basic lines in floral arrangements
Vertical
Horizontal
L-line
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Cont.d
Inverted
S-Curve
Crescent
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Rhythm and Line

• The placement and repetition of selected
  elements, such as seed-pods in dried autumn
  arrangements, can create a sense of rhythm. The
  use of transistion described under scale and
  proportion is also important to the development
  of rhythm and line.

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• There are five standards which form the
  foundation of American floral design.
• Colors chosen for arrangements are based on
• The room where they will be placed
• The background against which they will be placed
• The light under which they will be viewed
• The season of the year
• The preferences of the person for whom the
  flowers are intended
• The preferences of the purchaser
• The preferences of the floral manager.

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• Coloring families the six major groupings of
  colors visible when white light is passed through
  a prism or when a rainbow is seen after a shower
  (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet).
• Hue the quality from which the family name is
  derived the color in its most brilliant and
  unaltered state.
• Tint the hue lightened by the addition of
  white.
• Shade the hue darkened by the addition of black.

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• Tone the hue grayed by the addition of both
  white and black.
• Intensity the quality of visual strength or
  weakness that characterizes a color.
• Luminosity the quality of certain colors that
  allows them to be seen under dim light.
• Warmth and coolness reds and oranges are
  considered warm colors while blues and greens are
  considered cool.
• Movement ability of colors to appear closer or
  further away.

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• Color scheme is the groupings of colors a color
  scheme may be related or contrasting depending on
  the location of the colors on the color wheel.
• Related color schemes
• Monochromatic utilizes one color in its many
  related values.
• Adjacent use one of the primary colors with
  other colors derived from that primary.

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• Contrasting color schemes
• Complementary use colors that are opposites or
  near opposites on the color wheel.
• Tradic use three colors that are spaced
  equidistantly on the color wheel.
• Polychromatic use all of the hues together.

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Why are flowers wired?

• To support stems weakened by age or poor
  production
• To straighten crooked stems
• To hold stems in a n intentional curve for design
• To extend stem length for large arrangements
• To replace a bulky stem, permitting use of the
  flower in a corsage
• To combine single blossoms for a mass effect

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• The techniques of wiring depends on the flower
  being wired and the stem and flower head
  involved.
• Two of the mainstays of floral designs are bows
  and puffs.
• Puffs are small clusters of netted fabric
  sometimes called tulle, that are used as
  background and lightweight filler for corsages
  and bouquets.
• Bows are usually constructed from fabric ribbon,
  although plastic ribbons are sometimes used for
  outdoor pieces.

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Various ways of wiring flowers

• Wiring inside a hollow stem
• Wiring in the calyx and around the stem
• Wiring looped through the neck of a blossom and
  around a wad of moistened cotton
• Wiring through the calyx and the ends bent to
  form a replacement stem
• Wiring through the calyx, formed into a hood, and
  pulled back to center

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• Flower tape is applied after the flower has been
  wired.
• Corsages are most commonly pinned to clothing at
  the shoulder or banded to the wrist.

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Question to ask prior to designing table
arrangements

• What is the purpose of the arrangement?
• Will it be visible from all sides?
• What colors predominate on the table or in the
  room?
• Is there a theme to the occasion?
• How long is the arrangement to last?
• Does the client have a preference for colors,
  flowers, or styles?

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Wreaths in floral design

• For centuries, the Christmas holiday season has
  been celebrated with festive wreaths, but in
  recent years, wreaths have been used to
  commemorate many addition occasions and seasons.
  Therefore, wreaths have become a big part of the
  floral design industry and the understanding of
  them is very important for every floral designer.