Febiilarv 4, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



499 



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BEGINNINGS 



IN DESIGN... 



THE FLAT BUNCH. 



The Source of Correct Ideas. 



Making a flat bunch may be termed 

 the free hand drawing of our art. There 

 is no excuse for its not being well 

 done. Often in filling design frames 

 the artistic value of a flower must bo 

 sacrificed for a mechanical reason.' Cer- 

 tain space must be filled or covered, 

 •whether the best effect is secured or 

 not. While the utmost care should be 

 exercised to prevent such a necessity, 

 there are times when it cannot be 

 avoided. But in the arrangement of 

 flat clusters there is no need of that 

 kind of scheming. We are free to exe- 

 cute our best ideas and the first neces- 

 sity is to find an idea, or rather, the 

 source of ideas. Start right. But how 

 start right? Form correct habits of 

 observation. This is no easy tas^k, yet 

 there are many more difficult ones. 



For absolute standards of correct- 

 ness in design natural objects are the 

 only models whose style no one can at- 

 tack. TliCTefore, to start right, cut out 

 all remembrance not only of pyramidal, 

 stiff necked, clubby "bouquets," but 

 even those much more creditable and 

 modern, and clear the mind for a new 

 impression. The natural object selected 

 for this pattern is one ready at hand, 

 a single long-stemmed rose, one of the 

 number out of which the cluster is to 

 be made. First grasp its character by 

 analyzing its form and studying its 

 curves. Get the general trend of the 

 stem; see where the foliage is placed 

 and how it hangs; the taper of the 

 stem; how the flower hangs;, the shape 

 of the bud, whether it is long and 

 pointed, or round. Shut your eyes an. I 

 see its image in your mind's eye. Take 

 another look and compare the mind's 

 image with the real rose. 



Elaborate the Flower Model. 



Soon there will flash across your mind 

 the picture of a cluster which takes the 

 same general appearance as our model 

 flower. You can see the easy sweep of 

 the spray and the curve and bend lilce 

 that of the pattern. The lines will be 

 thicker, but not any thicker in propor- 

 tion; the spray will point out like the 

 bud; a little branch will show where a 

 leaf was conspicuous on the pattern; 

 the stem end of the cluster will be 

 heavier than the tip, and the bunch as a 

 whole will be a second edition of our 

 model rose. 



If this principle is followed out, there 

 ■will be no need of copying other peo- 

 ple's work. You will have an unfail- 

 ing source of ideas, for no two flowers 

 are alike, much less the design of a 

 branch or a flower stalk. Your work 

 will be varied in proportion to your 

 powers of observation and adaptation. 



The Form and Tie. 



The ribbon tie conforms to the char- 

 acter of the bunch by following the 

 lines of the cluster. Observe that it is 



nut square with the stem ends. Th.ir 

 woidd be awkward here. A rose is 

 drawn back from the main part of the 

 Ininch through the U]iper bow and falls 

 over one of the ribbon ends. The bunch 

 is tied with wire before the ribbon is 

 put on. 



Observe that in this bunch the flow- 

 ers are at irregular distances from each 

 other. It has no built-up appearance. 

 The flowers composing it have a relatioii 

 to each other, which is taken from the 

 grouping of buds as they often appear 

 in clusters on the stem. There is a con- 

 nee.tion, not only between the ind? 

 viduals of these little groups, but be- 

 tween the groujis themselves. 



Don't be afraid of using space. There 

 is plenty of it. Let in a little liglit 

 here and there through the bunch. It 

 will help wonderfully. About one-thir'. 

 of the foliage is removed toward the 

 lower ends of the stems, to prevent th<^ 



As to Colors. 



Now, as to coloring in the rose bunch, 

 tliis cluster was for an elderly man's 

 funeral. The roses were Ivory, and the 

 ribbon light violet satin. The general 

 tendency now is to use flowers of one 

 color in one bunch, but there is no rea- 

 son why a touch of a contrasting color, 

 or a shade or tint of the same is not 

 [lerfectly in keeping with the most 

 fastidious taste. By the term tint is 

 meant a ligliter tone, and by the term 

 shade is meant a darker tone of the 

 color in question. In selecting colors 

 for use together in one bunch, many 

 people will expect to sec you use half 

 ot one color and half of another. But 

 instead of checker-board combinations 

 like that, let one color be in excess and 

 introduce just enough of another color 

 to relieve or touch the predominant 

 color. That cannot take from the sim- 

 plicity of the cluster, which should bo 

 the rule, both as to arrangement and 

 coloring. 



The Carnation Cluster. 



In the carnation cluster the sama 

 idan is used, both in obtaining the de- 

 sign and in following its pattern in the 

 cluster. There is selected as a pattern 

 a carnation flower with a spray of foli- 

 age on the same stem, ancl the carna- 

 tion bunch is a product of similar style. 

 There is no attempt made with the car- 

 nations to have a- long, slender cluster. 



Design for Cluster of Ivory Roses, Afer a Rose of that Variety. 



"humped" look under the tie on the 

 stem end. 



As a rule, one kind of flowers is best 

 for beginners. Roses and carnation? 

 are not happy partners for the same 

 c Ulster. If compelled to use them to- 

 gether, make separate clusters, and 

 throw the smaller one over the stem 

 end of the other, in place of a ribbon 

 tie. 



Tt is quaint and bunchy, more in keep- 

 ing with the appearance and character 

 of the carnation as a flower. A thick 

 mat of asparagus should be set under 

 the bunch to raise it off the flat surface. 

 Carnations do not lie flat gracefully, as 

 most roses do. 



AVTiere it is possible always use the 

 natural foliage with its own flowers. 

 Don 't throw away the long-stemmed 



