Class title: Pot et Fleur
Staging: bench, space allowed 70cm width height unrestricted, judged from front and sides
This is a particular design style that I know creates some confusion in the competition world. The definition from the Australian Floral Art Association manual is
“A design of growing plants, foliage or flowering, in or out of pots, with cut flowers in a suitable container.” The most important thing to remember is that cut foliage should not be used.
Here we have a Coleus still in its pot placed in the centre of a pottery container. Around the outside of the pot on one side of the container there is some floral foam ready for the placement of the cut flowers. On the other side of the container, outside the Coleus pot, are some miniature ground cover daisy plants still in their potting soil but not in pots. The cut flowers to be placed into the design are dahlias. The placement of these flowers is to resemble natural growth so that the whole design appears to be a “snapshot” of a natural garden setting.
Plants in this type of design should be chosen for their similar cultural needs, to provide a variety of heights, growing habits, shapes, textures and colours. Driftwood, interesting branches (without foliage) and stones may also be used.
I have added a twisted branch into the design and covered both the floral foam and soil with coconut fibre.
Judging feedback: A very good example of the design style with colour and rhythm. As the foliage and flowers are strong in size and shape the design could have been improved with a matching (i.e. stronger or thicker) piece of driftwood or branch.
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Here is another recent example of mine. This one was considered good enough to be used as the design style example for my state Floral Art Association website.
For this design I have used mostly succulents as the foliage, placed directly into soil in the base of the basket.
You can see that the basket container adds more to the design than the pottery one used in the first example. I have used a good solid piece of driftwood for backing of the design and a smaller branch for height.
Some competitors keep small foliage gardens growing in containers ready for this design style in competitions. They use glass jars with screw top lids to keep a place for the cut flowers. When the time for competition arrives, it is a simple task to take off the lids, fill the jars with water and/or floral foam and place the cut flowers into the design.
