The Design Challenge

So, over the weekend i delivered a flower arrangement to a woman who loved flowers. it was easy to conclude based on the fact that her husband was sending the bouquet i was delivering and when i approached their home, blooms filled her garden and there were several bouquets in her home. She was excited as ever to receiver her delivery and as she took the bouquet from my hands, i could see a self designed vase of flowers behind her in the foyer.

The actual vase was pretty traditional. i am sure most everyone has gotten a similar one from any florist including Chantilly. towering out of the top were several stems of flowers from a grocer's bouquet. the design was such that if a cross breeze came by, it would easily topple over. the few stems of baker fern that was included in the bunch was huge and gave the impression of wings! i laughed to myself thinking of the seminar i gave at Gardner's Day for Zwingly Church a few months ago. This avid lover of flowers needed a much needed flower design intervention!

This week, instead of the secret answer to the question of the week, how about a design challenge! i will give you a few tips and then you can submit a photo of your design and i will choose a winner. The prize awarded will be a $50 bouquet of Fresh Flowers!

To begin, there are seven PRINCIPLES OF FLORAL DESIGN. (composition, unity, proportion, accent, balance, harmony and rhythm) These principles are a constant, underlying ingredient in every floral design. The interpretative components used by designers to create distinctive floral designs are call ELEMENTS OF DESIGN. (line, form, space, texture and color) We will visit each of these in the upcoming weeks. For now, we will focus on proportion.

For creating a proportioned design, measure the vessel by its widest part; height or width. If your vase is taller than wide, use the height as the measure and your design (in traditional standards) should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the height of the container. A wider or horizontal design employs this same guideline using the container's length as a measurement.

Using this tip, choose your flower, container and get to work! This week, Chantilly is featuring local sunflowers, 5 stems for $5.99. this would be perfect for your challenge because sunflowers are easy to design with. you can use foam or just a clean vase as your vessel.

you can email me at charles.chantilly@verizon.net if you have any questions!  I will pick the winner next week so you have a little time.  Good luck!

Since this post, i have had several questions so we will continue the challenge until August 31! a few of you, no names, needed a little more time! 

Choose your container, select your flowers, and follow my instructions for proportion. when you are finished, take a picture and send it over to charles.chantilly@verizon.net.

See You At The Shop!

Charles

Coxcomb - Hungry Anyone?

As we move towards the end of summer (my favorite time of year) a variety of local crops become available to us. Some farms are not far from the store, some are in Jersey, and many can be found up and down the coastline. Regardless, local product becomes more available and one of my favorites is Coxcomb or Celosia (Celosia cristata). If you venture to the farmers market, you will see an array of colors and textures. As we move into September, dried coxcomb enters the market for wreath decorations and wall hangings. It is easy to dry Coxcomb by simply hanging it upside down in a well ventilated area. Once dried, you can minimize dropping with a little hair spray.

What i find interesting about Coxcomb is that in many places, Celosia is a grown as a nutritious leafy green vegetable served as traditional fare for countries such as Central and West Africa. In Nigeria, they call it "soko yokoto" which means "makes husbands fat and happy".

Since i am already there, i am not compelled to try it! i think i'll just stick with design. Anyway, we are featuring Celsoia this week starting Wednesday. i hope you get a chance to stop in!

See you at the Shop!

Charles