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buford_gw

Arrangements

buford
9 years ago

Does anyone also do arrangements? I've always wanted to cut roses and bring them in the house, but I have no flair for arranging. So I decided to take advantage when an experienced member wanted to mentor new arrangers. Now arranging for a show is different than for your home, but there are skills that go for both. One thing I know, there are a whole bunch of 'things' to buy to do arranging and I think I bought them all!

I did my first novice arrangement and received a blue ribbon. I was a bit shocked, I thought it was a mess. But at the last minute, I replaced some of the roses, so I guess it passed muster. The theme was comics and for the Novice arrangement was Yellow Kid, so I used yellow roses. At first I had all Golden Showers, but some of them flopped that morning, so I replace them with two Gold Medal blooms that I had that wouldn't do well individually, but looked better in the arrangement.

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My Societies' show is on October 11th. Our theme is Christmas in Roseland (or Winter Holiday with Roses for the politically correct....) And I'm hoping to do 3 arrangements. One is a table setting, one is a centerpiece and one is a regular arrangement. Since I am co-chair of the show, I might be too busy to present many single roses (plus the fact that most of my roses are in pots and not blooming....) but the arrangements I can work on before hand and just touch them up that morning. I'm really excited to be doing this. Hopefully I get some good results. Depends on what roses I have at the time and how many....

If you do go to a show, take a look at the arrangements. Many are spectacular. I do especially love the mini-arrangements. I do have some minis, so maybe....

Comments (9)

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    I have done arrangements with some success. It's a lot of fun! However, of late we've only had 2 or 3 people entry any arrangements and I think the society is thinking of dropping them from the schedule. I think that's sad but inevitable if no one enters. The other problem is it's getting harder and harder to get arrangements judges for the show. There are only two that live close enough to come and sometimes they're both already booked up for our date because all the societies have their shows in June because it's our best rose month around here.

    I got the Oriental Miniature award for this one.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    And the Royalty award for this one.

  • buford
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Very nice seil. We have some awesome arrangers in our Society, but it's nice to have new people to enter. I am afraid of the Oriental arrangements. They look so perfect.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Thanks, Buford. I like the oriental arrangements because they don't require a lot of blooms. Compared to a lot of the other arrangers I have a very small garden and no doubles of any roses. It limits what I have to work with. I never have enough blooms to do any kind of mass arrangement. Most of the oriental categories only require 3 or 5 roses. You also don't need to hide the mechanics either. You should give one a try! When I started I just went online and googled rose arrangements. There was quite a bit of info. Later I got a copy of the ARS arrangements judges guide. That helped a lot!

  • diane_nj 6b/7a
    9 years ago

    Forget (for now) about the roses, and study the principles around flower arrangements, the different styles, etc. Find some local classes, youtube, or contact the garden clubs (they are crazy for arrangements). Also, get a copy of the ARS "Guidelines for Judging Rose Arrangements:, it will help with understanding how the design classes are judged, as seil notes.

  • buford
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have the guidelines and another member gave me a bunch of books on arranging. One has step by step directions and number (put rose #1 here...) exactly what I need. Maybe I will try a mini-oriental if I have blooms on my minis. They are in pots.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Another great way to learn is to clerk for the arrangement judges at a show. I learned a ton just by listening to their comments as they judged our show. I just had to really bite my tongue while they were judging mine, lol! Seriously, I learn new things every time I clerk and it's a lot of fun!

  • diane_nj 6b/7a
    9 years ago

    I can't believe I forgot about clerking! Thanks Seil! Also, if any of the arrangement judges are around after judging ends, see if you can grab one to ask a few questions.

  • ken-n.ga.mts
    9 years ago

    I've been doing arrangements for about 12 years now. I enjoy them a lot.