Another design that is judged and viewed all around – this time only using roses as the flower which creates (for me) a problem because I would not normally associate roses with the “red centre” of Australia.
An additional constraint was that the design must not exceed the base size – 60cm square. This means being careful that the top of a design doesn’t come out of a virtual line that goes up from each corner of the plinth.
For me the title refers to the “red” desert in the middle of Australia – a land of red dirt and very little plant coverage. So how to show this in a floral design?
The structure is made from two length of plastic plumbing pipe covered in red sandpaper with the top one wedged at an angle into the bottom one. This allows for a wide mouth vase to be placed inside the bottom pipe to support the roses. The base is also covered with the sandpaper.
Obviously the choice of roses was going to be very important to my interpretation so I have used ones that are orange with red tips – a variety called here “Sunset”.
In the top of the structure I have used twigs and bark from Australian native flora to highlight a windswept “desert” feel to the design. The bark is also wrapped around the design to create the same effect.
This design placed second.
Judges Comments: Good use of colour, although the structure is more dominant than the plant material. Good use of space allocated.
Design lacks some movement – one direction of line is too dominant as it conflicts with the colour dominance.
