Class title: With a Swish and a Swirl
Staging: Bench 70cm maximum width, height unrestricted, roses only flower to be used The challenge for this title is to determine the difference between a “swish” and a ‘swirl” and then show that in the plant material. Fortunately, although roses are the only flower that can be used, there is no restriction on the foliage. For me, that meant I could work on the ‘swish’ part with the foliage and have the roses in a ‘swirl’ pattern.
I have placed long stemmed red roses in a spiral pattern radiating out from the floral foam in the top of the stand, making sure to carry the spiral behind the stand as it comes down toward the bench. This gives the design visual depth. I need good height to balance the width of the required space for this design knowing that I will also use some large foliage pieces to complement the roses.
Plaited palm leaves that naturally form a soft spiral have also been placed in a spiral shape. The size of these was to provide the “swish” that you might hear if they were moving in a breeze. Smaller folded monsteria leaves fill out the base of the placements. Steel grass is used to highlight the swirling feel of the placements of both roses and foliage.
The floral foam is covered with a pinned monsteria leaf and the stand has an inbuilt spiral to help with the feel of the design. It’s important to think about the effect of any container you use as this can add or detract from your overall design.
Judging Feedback: The judge wanted to see more roses in this design (filling out the swirl line completely) and something more obviously a “swish”. The swirling was well interpreted and it is a clever use of the space allocated for the design. An impressive display with the container/stand adding to the interpretation but not dominating the design.