For this competition we were required to use dahlias as the only flower. It can be difficult to find dahlias for this competition as they are not a popular flower for the markets – best to find someone you know who has a good garden supply!
This design is staged on a wire mesh and is judged from both sides. Your design needs to be interesting from both side – not necessarily the same but interesting in its interpretation of the class title.
My plan was to showcase a variety of plant materials that can be “interlinked”, ones that might not be obvious at first.
I have used gymea lily foliage, black bean seed pods split in two to expose both sides, ripped and rolled typha, with cane spirals and coconut fibre to bring all these elements together – the interlinking part.
As I look at the design today (2 years later) it really doesn’t tell much of a story. I should have used more of the gymea lily foliage along the same spiral lines as the cane. The colour would be dominant and enhance the lines more appropriately.
There is nothing to tie the colours of the dahlias to the design. Using a sympathetic colour of sisal rather than the coconut fibre would also help bring the design together.
A good design to review and think about improving!
