Too Cool for School

So many times I have heard from friends, old residents of mine (while I was an RA and GRF at Cornell), and people I've met through travels "I love flowers but I don't really know what to do with them." I always respond by telling my friends that it's okay not to know, as arranging flowers for a vase can be pretty simple if you let the flowers "speak" for themselves. I find that if you have an eye for design or at least an eye for what looks bad, you'll know when an arrangement looks well put together. Still I think my zen outlook towards flower arranging comes from the fact that I was in a junior garden club when I was young, and flowers have been a part of my life for over 20 years. For others, designing with flowers doesn't come that easily.

There is a solution out there for those of you who have friends or you yourself are newbies to floral design and arranging: Little Flower School of Brooklyn, NY. Nicolette Owen and Sarah Ryhanen are two close friends who have come together for their love of plants, education, and everything beautiful to help Gen X/Yers like us without a single sense of design skill but plenty of desire to learn. Based in Brooklyn, Nicolette and Sarah have set up a shop and a number of in-house classes on a plethora of plant topics, including winter-happy plants and succulents, to flowers for Mother's Day, to a very special Cherry Blossom event. Their designs are absolutely divine, and their personalities are the cutest - I'm sure they are some of the best floral design teachers around!

Check them out at their own blog, Sarah's blog, and Nicolette's site for a listing of classes, dates, and topics - there's 3 spots left for the Cherry Blossom event! And if you're ever in the neighborhood or attend one of their classes, be sure to stop in and tell them Stephanie sent you and says hello!

Plant on and rock on,

Stephanie

Song for the Garden: Jackhammer - The Spinto Band
Photo Credit: SR, 2010

Meet Me at the Fair

This past weekend I got a message from my friend Mike asking “Were you a judge in the flower competition at the [New York] State Fair? Some of the judges’ comments sounded like they were written by you:

‘Crowded arrangement on candle sticks distracts from centerpiece.’

‘Purple flowers do not work with theme of ‘Going Green’.’

‘Stem lengths reflect dimension amazingly; Rock on!’ ”

Mike’s message made me laugh for several reasons, one being the fact that each statement was very similar to my vernacular, but also because they reminded me of the hyper-critical comments I had received on my junior floral designs for the State Fair back in the late 90’s. Twice I had entered designs, one for the container competition and another for the centerpiece challenge the next year. I can distinctively remember the centerpiece competition, as the theme was “Dance the Night Away” and being in my 12^th year of dance classes I was certain I could come up with a design that would blow the judges off their feet (pun oh so intended).

Being the NYS Fair, there are rules and regulations a designer must follow when putting together their design. Generally a theme is given, with a description that is everything but forthcoming, and one must incorporate a background to display your design. For “Dance the Night Away” used star gazer lilies (star gazer… night… get it?) as my main flowers with lily-of-the-valley and some greens as fillers, all of which were placed into a pair of old pointe shoes (dance shoes… dance… get it?) filled with Oasis. It was ingenious! Who would ever put flowers into pointe shoes? Certainly not Salvatore Capezio or Hans Christian Anderson’s Karen.

The day of judging I can remember seeing women in their 50s and 60s setting up their designs that were full dining rooms, all matching the floral pieces they displayed. Seeing the exotic flowers, colors, and interesting pairings excited me as I thought “I wish I could be those ladies.” The judges’ comments for my design were just as a mixed bag as Mike’s relayed comments; some enjoyed the use of star gazers and others found my pointe shoes to be “distracting from the overall design and theme.” After that day I always felt the judges were confined by rules and vague theme descriptions rather than being open to creativity, and traded my days of NYS Fair floral competitions for days assistant teaching dance sessions to younger summer classes. Every year I go to OFA in Columbus, OH however, I relive my short days as a young floral designer with the design competitions and smile when I see comment cards that read “Excellent portrayal of the theme; uses of Oasis wire adds depth and whimsy. Rock on!”

Plant on and rock on,

Stephanie

Song for the Garden: Daylight - Matt & Kim

Photo Credits: SEW 2008 - "Joey" in container at OFA 2008