JiXUAHY 14. 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



355 



BEGINNINGS 



IN DESIGN... 



THE WREATH. 



The Principle of Design. 



AVliile tho general principles of de- 

 sign laid down in the previous article 

 apply to tho wreath as well as to other 

 pieces, there are some variations of tie- 

 tail with each. These principles sim- 

 plified may be restated here. First, 

 there must be a uniform background. 

 Second, flowers not used in tilling in 

 should be cut with respect to the nat- 

 ural bend of the stem. Third, clusters 

 or sprays should be arranged systemat- 

 ically according to the natural relation 

 one to another of the flowers to be use.!. 

 Fourth, flowers used for construction 

 are, of course, not subject to the fore- 

 going principles. 



To some designs these principles may 

 be applied with less strictness than with 

 others; for instance, a wreath is more 

 easily distinguished than an anchor. It 

 IS a suggestive design, while the anchor 

 assumes to be a representative design. 

 Give the wreath the general treml of a 

 circle, and looseness of arrangement and 

 detail Avill not hurt its symmetry and 

 chai'acter. There are no sharp outliues 

 or strict design lines in it. 



A Loose Arrangement. 



Vnlike the pillow, it should not be 

 made solid, nor must it be heavy or 

 massive. To get into the original in- 

 tention of the wreath, study the classic 

 original, as seen in the old paintings 

 and statues, and its adaptations in mod- 

 ern ornament. You will find that it 

 consists of two branches of laurel fas- 

 tened together with short ties at the 

 broad side. Tlie two narrow ends bare- 

 ly meet at their extremes. 



A version of the classic wreath in 

 modern dress appears in the first illus- 

 tration. Tliis is a loose wreath made 

 without a frame. It is composed of 

 two long, tapering clusters of roses, the 

 two corresponding ends being fastened 

 together. Cross the stem ends first. 

 Trim off the surplus stems and foliage, 

 tie w-i1h ware, and insert the ribbon 

 ends without tying. Di-awr the tip ends 

 of the clusters together gently and run 

 a slender wire across under the buds, 

 tying them together and completing the 

 circle. The flowers that bend naturally 

 to the right should be placed on the 

 left side of the wreath, and vice versa. 

 See that the clusters are long, slender 

 and flexible. 



This is a primitive wreath. We have 

 not improved on the classic Greeks yet. 

 If you can persuade a customer to use 

 a wreath like thig, instead of a tacky 

 little eight or ten-inch frame wreath 

 you have accomplished two things — 

 saved time and unnecessary work and 

 given real art an uplift in your com- 

 munity. 



Wreaths on Wire Frames. 



You cannot accomplish much in the 

 way of arrangement under a twelve or 

 fourteen-inch wreath. Discourage the 



use of all small designs on Iranies. They 

 are neither profitable nor artistic. 



For a wreath made on a wire frame, 

 first line and fill the frame, as was done 

 for the pillow, ("over the frame on the 

 upper side with wood ferns, smilax, as- 

 jiaragus or other such material, after 

 it is stuffed with sphagnum, only cover 

 it well, (f only medium size is used, 

 the No. 36 wire wrapping which holds 

 the green covering in place will also 

 hold the sphagnum in. You now have 

 a plain green background on top, bot- 

 tom and sides of the piece, and it will 

 not be necessary to use any flowers for 

 construction. Green, by the way, is na- 



originMl wreath are widened and elab- 

 orated ; that is, the finished design has 

 that effect. In reality the flowers are 

 stemmed separately and inserted as in 

 the pillow spray of roses, to imitate the 

 classical wreath clusters. The larger 

 the wreath, the more freedom can be 

 used in the placing of the flowers. 



Details of the Design. 



There is another variation from the 

 nrigiual design to be noted in this 

 wreatli. The left hand cluster is larger 

 than the right. It extends from tho 

 lop around to the lower side and a lit- 

 tle on the right side. The two clusters 

 are bound together by a band of helio- 

 trope over the heavy ends of the clus- 

 ters. The edges of the wreath are 

 lightened by a few sprays of swainsona 

 and plenty of Asparagus Spreugeri. 

 which is used on both the inside and 

 outside edges, and once across the top 

 of the wreath, leaving an end hanging 

 over the edge at the right side. 

 The strong shoots of Sprengeri are eas- 

 ily inserted anywhere in the frame, 

 without stemming. The few tips of 



A Classic Wrealh ot Roses. 



ture's owTa background. We would do 

 well to use more of it for design back- 

 grounds. 



In the second illustration of the fin- 

 ished wreath, all the flowers were cut 

 and stemmed according to the princi- 

 ples of measuring the characteristic 

 stem, except the heliotrope, which is 

 Vsed as a band in place of a ribbon tie. 

 The arrangement is a free adaptation 

 of the simple classical wreath in the 

 first cut. The simple sprays of the 



wood ferns visible about the edges are 

 part of the background, which strayed 

 out of place of their own accord, and 

 give a welcome touch to the finished 

 piece. 



Widen the Frame. 



When frames of larger diameter are 

 used, increase the width of the frame 

 beyond what the wire worker has done. 

 Stifl' sprays of green like asparagus 

 trained along the edges widen the franu; 



