Chapter 7

1. Chapter 7 Floral Design

2. 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.

3. Things or events flowers highlight • Birth of a child • Holidays • The first dance • Weddings • Anniversaries • Deaths

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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 florist’s investment.

17. 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.

18. 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.

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

20. 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.

21. 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

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

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

24. 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 you’re eating from.

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

26. 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

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

28. Standard patterns of floral arrangements Round Oval Rectangle

29. Cont.’d Asymmetrical Triangle Symmetrical Triangle

30. Basic lines in floral arrangements Vertical Horizontal L-line

31. Cont.’d Inverted S-Curve Crescent

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. 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

39. 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.

40. 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

41. 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.

42. 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?

43. Wreaths in floral design • Forcenturies, 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.