Flower show judge to conduct workshop

Linda Larson, State Flower Shows accredited judge, will conduct floral designs for members and interested participants on April 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the First Methodist Church (located east of the Alfred Dickey Library) on Third Street SE.

Reservations must be made by mailing $10 check to ND State Garden Club and mail to Linda Bellemare, 2507 Columbus Circle, Fargo ND 58103. The check needs to be postmarked by Friday.

Lunch will be served and will cost an additional $10 payable the day of the workshop.

Because flowers, containers and lunch needs to be arranged before the date, the number needs to be in by tomorrow’s deadline.

All plant materials will be provided for one to two designs. No mention was made of the need to bring containers or plant/flower securing devices. I feel sure she will have generic shapes for all to experience.

Flower arranging for competitions is completely different from a florist’s design delivered to your office or home for Valentine’s Day or the like.

Designs for flower shows emphasize line and mass, theme adherence and general artistic harmony. There’s usually a table or niche (a three sided enclosure of a stated size) and all the space must be thought through inside that framework.

If using all fresh plant material, it will be in a tricolor category. Usually that category is considered the most significant ribbon in a “standard” or “accredited” flower show, because it’s the hardest category to fulfill. Everything has to be within rules for tricolor designs, which includes any accessories. All line materials have to be fresh and show growth in the line.

Some categories allow for dried plant materials and some allow for other materials to be used in design composition. At one time (back in the “old days” when I was actively competing in and judging shows) there was a category called “NAI” Nature, Art and Industry. It was my favorite category because we were able to use any material as long as it fulfilled theme, size and any specified regulations and had some fresh plant material in it. I was in hog’s heaven competing in a category that was more sculpture than flower arrangement.

The NAI was discontinued before I left Georgia and not then replaced with anything as modern and sculptural. I enjoyed the tricolor category almost as much though, but line material could not be something as interesting as a tail pipe, toilet float, or gears or car springs. It was after all a time of some questionable “found object” sculptures and constructions using automobile doors etc. (in the manner of Frank Stella), so everything leaned a bit in the wind back then, including some categories of flower arrangements for flower shows.

It’s tamer now, but Standard Flower Show floral designs have not landed onto the same aesthetics we connect to florists (and mind you, I am one of the first to admit I adore the occasional dozen red roses telling me I’m loved by someone dear to my heart) but that is a different creature from a competitive design at a standard flower show.

Floral arrangements in standard shows use artistic design principles and elements in their making that may or may not involve flowers. These are more akin to drawing or painting a living picture in space than a bouquet of blossoms, so the finished piece may not even seem like a flower arrangement, because they aren’t always. Sometimes they are just beautiful collections of nature-shaped oddities grouped together in visually amazing designs. If a challenge is on the agenda, this is a wonderful opportunity for expression and creativity.

If anyone has an item for this column, please send to Sharon Cox, PO Box 1559, Jamestown, ND 58402-1559.

Tags: sharon cox, diversions, arts