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DESIGN #1 (BLACK BACKGROUND):
This Construction
is made entirely of styrofoam packaging materials that have been
creatively combined and joined together to appear as if they are
actually "functional" as a constructed building or other such stable,
based, entity. The Construction is dominant with flowers (red Gladiolus) placed to enhance the
construction; providing rhythm through their placement.
GLADIOLUS:
Perennials from corms. Iridaceae family.
The name ‘gladiolus’ comes from the Latin ‘gladius’ (a sword), from the
shape of the leaves. Many glads orginated in Africa where their corms
are roasted and eaten like a chestnut. The largest number of our modern
gladioli comes from South Africa. Many hybridizers and introductions
have been made but the most important was in 1820 by Robert Sweet and
another by Francis Fox (the engineer who built a cantilever railway
bridge over the Zambesi River at Victoria Falls) finding ‘the hooded
glad’ in the mist of a waterfall—having developed a hooded upper petal
to keep its pollen bearing stamens dry—this introduced yellow and
orange shades into the glad color spectrum (Today’s butterfly hybrids).
One-sided spikes blooming from spring to fall. Plant the corm 4 times
the height of the corm. High-crowned corms (up to 1 ½ inch in
diameter) are more productive than older, larger corms (over 2” in
diameter)
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DESIGN
#2
(MORPH LAMP BASE WITH YELLOW BACKGROUND): This Creative design incorporated movement in
the "container" or base which was a
black-light "morph-lamp"(from Wal-Mart or Spencer's Gifts). The design
was built in a black needlepoint cupholder and placed atop the
base.
Notice that space was incorporated by use of the curled Wisteria and
placement of Strelitzia (Bird
of Paradise). If using such a moving
base, it is imperative that design look well-balanced no matter the
presentation of the moveable component.
STRELITZIA reginae: “Bird of
Paradise” a trunkless perennial 5-6 feet tall in it’s own family of Strelitziaceae. From Cape of Good
Hope, South Africa, it is an evergreen plant with long-stalked,
leathery leaves. Remarkable blossoms (spectacular flowers resembling
the heads of crested tropical birds) are produced throughout the year.
They are comprised of a bract within which orange sepals and blue,
fused petals arise. Inside the petals are the stigma and stamens.
Pollinated by birds. Strelitzia
nicolai has a
bigger but not so colorful white flowers and grows to 30 ft tall and
wide with foliage similar to banana 5-10 feet long. Named for King
George III of England’s wife, Charlotte Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a patron
of botany, by Sir Joseph Banks (the king’s horticultural advisor from
the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew) reginae means ‘queen’. The S. nicolai
is named for Czar Nicholas I of Russia on a 1772-75 expedition.
ASPIDISTRA: Liliaceae family:
Cast Iron Plant. Perennial long-lived,s turdy, bulletproof. Open clumps
needing low light.
A. elatior: native to Japan and China. Distinctive parallel veins,
right and left facing leaves. Flowers are inconspicuous, brownish in
spring. ‘Variegata’ caused by virus. ‘Milky Way’ with spotted leaves,
smaller.
WISTERIA: Fabaceae family
(beans) Deciduous vines twining and woody. Long life, exceptionally
beautiful flowers in clusters of blue, violet, pinkish or white.
Aggressive pest in the South...require pruning (that is how designers
get their vining lines) and training to control size and shape. Classic
wisteria is Chinese wisteria (Wisteria
sinensis) which has escaped cultivation and can smother
entire hillsides and woodlands. Choose the American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) for a native
plant that is less vigorous and blooms in summer. American wisteria was
sent by Mark Catesby to England in 1724 as “Carolina Kidney Bean”.
Wisteria is named for Dr. Caspar Wistar, a distinguished botany
professor at U Penn and president of the Phiosophical Society, a friend
of Thomas Jefferson in the late 1700s early 1800s.
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DESIGN #3 (BLUE BACKGROUND/HOULA
HOOP): This multi-rythmic
design was "just for
fun" as it depicted the "Wet and Wild" theme of Deep South Regional, without the water! Hula hoop was
fitted into a base of wood to stand erect. Rhythm was circular
(hoop) as well as vertical (Sansevieria).
Interest was equated through placement of dried and treated Pineapple (interpretative of sea
urchins), cypress knee (crosscut section) as reef, sea fan, Sansevieria ( as sea grass or
kelp)and the contorted root of Smilax
(to evoke that feeling of coral). Picks of opalescent
fibers gave an underwater, bubbly feel...and then there was Nemo!
SANSEVIERIA:
Agavaceae family:
perennial houseplant, native to Africa and India. Stiff attractive
leaves grow from rhizomes. Propagate from leaf cuttings (this side up).
Bear spike-like cluster of fragrant flowers in spring and summer.
S. trifasciata (meaning
3 banded): “Mother in law’s tongue” (long leaves, always fully
extended), “Bow String Hemp” (tough leaf fibers used for bowstrings),
“Snake Plant” (refers to the banded or mottled foliage): the original
brown thumb houseplant!
‘Laurentii’:
Goldband Sansevieria with yellow margins
‘Bantel’s Sensation’:
vertical stripes of creamy white
‘Hahnii’:
Bird’s-nest Sansevieria: dwarf to just 1 foot tall forming a
vase shaped rosette of short broad dark green leaves.
S.
cylindrica (round): Spear Sansevieria with rigidly upright
leaves 2-4 feet which are cylindrical.
“Bald Cypress”
Trunk: (cross section) Taxodium
distichum, in the Taxodiaceae
family, are native trees that grow right into the
water. Produces trunklike limbless growths that are just a foot or 2
high called ‘knees’. ‘Knees’ help provide air to the roots (don’t
develop knees in dry conditions) and provide a buttress at the base for
support in water and provide a ‘canvas’ for artists to paint and carve.
Can grow over 100 ft tall with needlelike, feathery leaves turning
coppery color in the fall, deciduous. T.distichum var. nutans is the
“Pond Cypress” growing to 80 ft. develops few ‘knees’.
BROMELIADS:
(bro-melle-ad) entered recorded history some 500 years ago when
Columbus introduced the pineapple (Ananas comosus—meaning with long
hair) to Spain upon return from his second voyage to the New World in
1493. On that voyage he found it being cultivated by the Carib Indians
in the West Indies. Within 50 years this tropical fruit was being
cultivated in India and other Old World countries. It took some time
for additional bromeliads to enter cultivation. It wasn't until 1776
that another bromeliad (Guzmania
lingulata) was brought to Europe. Aechmea fasciata followed in 1828
and Vriesea splendens in
1840. Within the last hundred years, bromeliads have become more widely
used as ornamental plants. Originally only found in royal botanical
gardens or the private greenhouses of wealthy Europeans, their
popularity has spread to the masses. Today bromeliads are more
available to the enthusiast than ever before. New species are still
being discovered and plant breeders are developing ever more stunning
hybrids to choose from. Native to the Americas from southern US to
Chili and Argentina. Gina is using the tops off the dwarf ornamental
pineapple, Ananas nanus.
SMILAX: “Greenbrier” or “horse brier”, we
call it “wait a minute vine” in the Liliaceae
family can be evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous vines (climb by
tendrils). Native to the Americas these are tough, moderately
fast-growing from rhizomes or large tubers...Gina is probably using the
Similax
rotundifolia tubers. Although some are ornamental, others are flat-out
weeds with vicious thorns. Flowers are insignificant yellowish but the
blue-black berries that follow attract birds. |
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DESIGN
#4
(DARK BLUE WITH LIGHTS): This design was many things: an
Illuminary,
a Transparency, a Reflective, a Panel,
a Creative line. Lights were
inserted into the rear of a ceiling grid in a placement to enhance and
mimic the design itself. The design, a linear deign using
Garlic
umbels (painted bright pink) and silvered Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
was presented on a tall, footed, rectangular, wrought iron, candle
tower (with candle bases removed) that featured large square spaces.
HARRY LAUDER’S WALKING STICK: Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ in the Betulaceae
family is kin to filberts, a european native. In designs you love the
fantastically gnarled and twisted branches and twigs. These plants are
always grafted so the suckers arising from the base should be removed
as they won’t contort. The plant grows 8 – 1- feet tall and about 12
feet wide. Sir Harry Lauder (knighted in 1915 for his work to raise $$
for WWI—his son John died in WWI) was a popular Scottish entertainer
specializing in skits and songs in Scottish dialect. Clad in knit kilts
and equipped with a knotty cane, Lauder merrily performed the classic
Scots songs he'd devised.
ALLIUM:
Liliaceae family:
ornamental perennial bulb, true tunicate bulb, modified stem.
Relative
of edible onion. About 500 species. Hardy, sun loving, easy to grow:
plant bulbs in fall. Divide after bulbs become crowded. Narrow upright
leaves, grassy to strap shaped. Flowers are roundish, compact clusters
at ends of leafless stems ranging in height from 6 inches to 5 feet
tall. Some are fragrant, onion smell if bruised. Flower late spring
through summer. Come in white and shades of pink, rose, violet, red,
blue, yellow. Die to the ground after blooming. Giant Allium is Allium
giganteum.
Could have used: Elephant Garlic:
Liliaceae family:
perennial, fist-sized bulb with toes (cloves), classified as Allium scorodoprasum. Plant in fall
using larger toes, pointy end up, 1 inch deep.
Could have used: Agapanthus (Lily
of the Nile): Amaryllidaceae
family: Perennial, South African native. Bloom in summer, sending up
bare stems ending in clusters of up to 100 funnel-shaped flowers, each
cluster like a burst of bleu or white fireworks. Full sun to light
shade. Divide every 6 years. Protect from snails and slugs. Most
commonly planted are
Agapanthus
orientalis.(eastern) |
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DESIGN
#5 (ORANGE BACKGROUND WITH GOURDS): This design, originally
planned as a monochromatic (one color family) was, in fact, another Construction but, more importantly,
it was an example of the newly
introduced Mono-Botanic Design (all plant material used coming
from one plant family, genus or species). Dried gourds were
placed on a construction of wooden 1"x2"s which were painted
brown. Use of the contrived flower forms made of naturally
colored gourd seeds glued in circular,overlapping fashion to a
cardboard form, added interest as well as the required second
"part" of the botanic family Cucurbitaceae.
The flowers were attached to the construction with bark covered
wires.
GOURDS: The most
commonly planted gourd is the Curcubita
pepo ovifera, a yellow-flowering vine producing small
ornamental gourds in various shape and sizes in both solid colors and
stripes. Lagenaria siceraria is a white-flowering gourd producing 3
inch to 3-foot long fruits in round, crooknecked, coiled (snake),
bottle, dumbbell, or spoon shapes. Dipper gourds and birdhouse gourds
are favorites of this species. Gourds have been around since
prehistoric times, Pre-Columbian. Family: Cucurbitaceae.
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DESIGN
#6: (VIOLIN ON PEDESTAL) Using a wrought iron violin form
as the line and enhancing it with wired grapevine garland for rhyhm and
gracefulness. This simple but stark creative design was enhanced only by
the placement of two purple Liatris along
the site of the bow. The bow was made of bamboo reeds.
REEDS: Calamogrostis x acutiflora
(Feather reed grass) an evergreen to semi-evergreen grass with narrow
bright green leaves, erect to somewhat arching, clumps to 3 feet tall
and somewhat broader. Upright flowering stem increase the height to 6
feet tall as they appear in the summer. Look for ‘Karl Foerster’ or ‘Stricta’, another selection is ‘Overdam’ with variegated leaves. Calamogrostis brachytricha (Reed
Grass) is deciduous, upright, arching clump to 2 ½ feet tall and
2 feet wide. Broad, rosy purple flower spikes resembling foxtails
increase plant height to 4 feet in late summer or early fall.
GRAPEVINE: VITUS in the Vitaceae family. Deciduous vines.
The grapes native to the US include slip-skin grapes of the ‘Concord
type’, mainly used for jelly and soft drinks, but in the lower south,
the muscadine (Vitus rotundifolia) bears
large fruit in small clusters. Some are self-fertile while others
require cross-pollination. Muscadines are resistant to the deadly
Pierce’s disease as well as fungal diseases black rot and mildew. Net
to protect fruit from birds. Good fruit production in the late summer
and fall requires good fertilization practice and spur and cane pruning
in the winter or earliest spring before the buds swell.
LIATRIS: Liatris spicata or “Spike Blazing
Star” is often used as line material—can grow to 5 feet tall. This is a
perennial from a corm in the Asteraceae family. These are native plants
that endure heat, drought and poor soil that have been hybridized.
There is a white-flowered ‘Alba’ as well as ‘Floristan white’. Most
flowers are lavenedar to deep red purples.
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CROTON: Codiaeum variegatum pictum: an euphorbia (repeated
contact with croton leaves can cause a skin rash in some people),
evergreen shrub up to 6 feet tall and wide, native to the tropics.
Grown for its showy large, leathery, glossy leaves which may be green,
yellow, red, purple, bronze, pink or almost any combination of these
colors. Leaves may be oval, lance shaped, or very narrow; edges may be
straight or lobed. It needs bright light and regular misting if
indoors. Does well in a warm (not below 32), humid greenhouse.
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DESIGN #7
(UNDERWATER) The design was an Underwater
design using bamboo as the maiin line or "mast" of my outrigger
type "sailboat". The horizontal lines were also bamboo. A
palm spathe was contorted, painted red and black and served as the
"main sail". Secondary sail was clipped Saw Palmetto.
Croton (Codiaeum variegatum)
leaves both under the water and placed at the waterline were used for
color and texture. Notes: water magnifies your work, be
cautious when placing intems under water; debris will show, use
caution to keep work clean; watrline becomes part of the design
and must not "'cut" design in undesired place; mechanics must be
handled well or will detract.
BAMBOO: Poaceae (formerly Gramiaceae) family: Giant grasses.
Perennial evergreen. Clumpers (species Bambusa or Fargesia) vs Runners (Arundinaria, Phyllostachys, Pleioblastus,
Pseudosasa, Sasa and Semiarundinaria). Plant using a barrier,
2-3 feet deep, sheet metal, 30-mil plastic or poured concrete. Spread
by underground stems, rhizomes. Can be ground cover, shrub or tree. The
stalk or woody stem used is a culm, hollow except for diaphram. Culms
have already attained their maximum diameter when they poke through the
ground and may reach maximum height in a month, some growing several
feet a day. Culms live for several years but eventually die and should
be cut out. Knobs, obvious joints are nodes where leaves and branches
form, protected by sheath. Distance between nodes is internode. Rarely
bloom (30 to 60 year intervals).
PALMS: Using a
spathe, Arecaceae family. The
Sabal Palm (Sabal palmetto) is native and widely grown in Florida on up
to N. Carolina. Florida’s and South Carolina’s state tree (altho not
really a true tree), grows slowly to 90 ft tall, leaves 5 –8 ft long.
Tolerant of wind, salt spray and sand it can be planted right on
dunes—best for the beaches. Easy to transplant. Flower in summer. What
Gina is using is the base of the fronds that have fallen away...Palms
are ‘self-cleaning’...the fronds will drop off of their own accord.
SAW PALMETTO: Serenoa repens(creeping), Arecaceae family.
Native to the coastal plains form SC to FL and west to TX. A
Trouble-free fan palm grows into a clump 4-7 feet tall and wide. Adapts
well from sand dunes and dry scrub to moist woods and wetlands. Green
to bluish-green palmate leaves are 2-3 ft across, held on saw-toothed
(armed) leaf stems (Petiole) to 2 feet long. Teeth are quite sharp.
Does have white flowers giving rise to berries that age from yellow
green to blue black...berries used to treat enlarged prostate in men.
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