For centuries, the Christmas holiday season has been celebrated with festive wreaths. In recent years, wreaths have been used to commemorate many additional occasions and seasons. Although the evergreen Christmas wreath is still most common, wreaths can be made of cones, straw, grapevines, fruit and nuts, and assorted permanent materials.
Lightweight permanent materials often have a circle of styrofoam as their base. The material is attached to wooden or metal picks and stuck into position. Heavier fresh materials may require a frame that can be filled with sphagnum moss or other water-retaining material. Christmas wreaths are usually supported on a heavy metal ring, the thickness of which is determined by the size of the wreath. It is essential that the support ring be strong lest the wreath sag into an oval shape when hung.
Wreaths can be made entirely by hand or with the aid of a wreath machine. The directions that follow are for a traditional evergreen Christmas wreath assembled by hand.
Step 1: Using hand pruners, cut several large evergreen boughs into a pile of smaller pieces, four to six inches in length and as fully needled as possible. Use of fresh boughs will help ensure that the wreath remains green through the season.
Step 2: With the wreath ring resting on the table, grasp a cluster of three or four evergreen branches and wire them tightly to the ring. A spool of medium-gauge wire works well for this purpose.
Step 3: Wire subsequent clusters of greenery into place, overlapping the previous clusters to conceal their wiring. All greenery should be oriented in the same direction around the wreath (Figure 7-21).
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figure 7-21. Hand wiring a wreath (Delmar/Cengage Learning. Photo by Jack Ingels.)
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Step 4: The wreath may be developed with one side or two sides. The former is more common than the latter.
Step 5: Wire a loop for hanging onto the back side of the wreath.
Step 6: Once the foliage has been completed, a bow can be added to finish it (Figure 7-22). Other additions can include decorative balls (called millimeter balls), pine cones, birds, or other ornaments.
Retail florists often purchase undecorated wreaths in quantity, already assembled. The time pressures of a busy holiday season may prevent each wreath from being made to order. The preassembled wreaths are made by hand but use a wreath machine (Figure 7-23). The wreaths are usually made well in advance of Christmas and so dry out and shed sooner than those made with fresher materials.
SUMMARY______________________________________
Our use of flowers is rooted deep in history, and much of what is being done with flowers today is merely copying what has been done for centuries. Still, America has made significant contributions to modern flower arranging and is now setting the standards for professional flower arranging worldwide.
Floral design is a craft that requires its practitioners to be knowledgeable not only about the construction and care of floral products but also about design of all types, the natural world, literature, the social sciences, and the fine arts.
The materials of a professional florist include assorted cutting tools, wiring materials, adhesives, and stem support materials. Becoming familiar with their uses and differences is an important first step in a
florist’s training. Equally important is knowing how to care for fresh cut flowers in the shop. They must receive nutrition for continued good health, water to prevent wilting, and cool temperatures to slow their metabolic activity and prolong life.
The materials used in floral arrangements, whether fresh, dried, or permanent, can be categorized into basic form types: line, mass, form, or filler elements. Depending on how they are used and the size of the arrangement, flowers and nonflowers may fill different form roles.
Liking or disliking a design is a subjective judgment. However, a floral design can be evaluated more objectively if the principles of design are applied to the judgment. The principles are simplicity, focalization of interest, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm and line.
Using the five principles of design, florists often arrange the flower and foliage form types into six standard patterns: horizontal, oval, vertical, inverted-T, Hogarth curve, and asymmetrical triangle. These five standard patterns form the foundation of American floral design and have been the major contribution of American florists to the worldwide profession.
Six basic lines make up the six standard patterns. The lines are the round, diagonal, right angle, crescent, fan, and equilateral triangle. Once the basic patterns and lines are understood, it becomes easy to analyze the composition of most floral arrangements.
Color is one of the features of flowers and floral arrangements that makes them so attractive. A florist needs a good color sense and an understanding of color terminology. Careful study of a color wheel is a good place to begin.
More mechanical than a good color sense, but just as necessary, is knowledge of how and when to wire the flowers and foliage of an arrangement. Wire may need to be added if the stems are weak or crooked, if a certain curvature is desired, if the stem length needs to be extended, or if the stem is too bulky and a new one needs to be created. The exact technique of wiring varies with the type of stem and flower head.
This chapter also covered the construction of bows and puffs, a corsage, table arrangements (one-sided and two-sided symmetrical triangles, a one-sided asymmetrical triangle, an S-curve, and a vase arrangement), and finally, a wreath.
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ACHIEVEMENT REVIEW
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Match the definition or example with the
correct principle of design.
a. proper size relationship 1. simplicity
between flowers and 2. focalization
container 3. scale and
b. main height proportion
components equal one 4. balance
and one-half times the 5. rhythm
container width and line
c. the use of one distinctive design line and a few harmonious colors
d. frozen motion
e. equal importance on either side of the point of line convergence
f. selection of a container that does not overpower the flowers
g. use of mass form flowers at the point of line convergence
6. List the six major patterns of floral arrangements.
7. List the six basic lines of floral arrangements.
8. List the six major reasons that flowers are wired.
9. List the word that completes each of the following definitions.
a. Color families are the_____ major
groupings of colors visible when white light is passed through a prism.
b. The brilliant and unaltered state of
color from which a family name is derived is termed its.
c. Tint is the hue lightened by the
addition of_____ .
d. A hue darkened by the addition of
black is termed______ .
e. A hue that has been grayed by addition of both black and white is termed
f. Colors that are more visible under dim light than other colors have a high
g. Reds and oranges are_____ colors.
h. Blue and green are_____ .
i. Groupings of colors are termed_____ .
C. MULTIPLE CHOICE
From the choices given, select the answer that best completes each of the following statements.
1. A color scheme that uses colors that are opposite or nearly so on the color wheel is
a. monochromatic c. adjacent
b. complementary d. triadic
2. A color scheme that uses one primary
color and other colors derived from that same primary is.
a. monochromatic c. adjacent
b. complementary d. triadic
3. A color scheme of yellow, green, and
orange is______ .
a. monochromatic c. adjacent
b. complementary d. triadic
4. A color scheme that uses many variations
of a single color is______ .
a. monochromatic c. triadic
b. adjacent d. polychromatic
5. A color scheme whose three colors are
equidistant on the color wheel is _____ .
a. monochromatic c. triadic
b. adjacent d. polychromatic
6. A polychromatic color scheme contains hues.
a. three d. six
b. four c. five
D. DEMONSTRATION
To demonstrate your competence, prepare:
a. five butterfly-shaped puffs and five fan shaped puffs
b. a corsage bow
c. a corsage of five flowers
d. a table arrangement, the style to be determined either by you or your instructor
e. a one-sided door wreath, the materials to be decided by your instructor depending on the season and availability
