The Seasons — An Overview
The cycle of seasons has a new significance for the flower arranger as it provides a setting for the different plants and materials that arrive with each season. New buds and the subtle emergence of life typify spring after winter. Summer overwhelms the flower arranger with her riches. Leaf and bloom are so abundant that, were it not for our skill as designers, we might be satisfied with simple riots of colour. But if we observe nature closely, we will see that we can bring greater beauty to arrangements through contrasts of texture and form; round shapes combined with spears, velvety surfaces set off by glossy ones. Autumn's arrival, with its rich colours, gives us the fading grasses and dry seed heads of the season as well as tapestry of coloured foliage that dominates the end of summer landscape.
Finally when winter comes, the true test of our ingenuity and resourcefulness arrives with it. Gnarled wood, sprigs and branches of evergreen, perhaps a few fresh flowers and winter flowering shrubs, will help to make attractive arrangements. From these we can produce designs that justify the season, yet introduce touches of welcome green into our homes.
Drying
There is a strong fascination in drying, pressing and preserving flowers and leaves that carries the keen flower-arranging enthusiast a step further in the never-ending interest of this artistic hobby. Although we are blessed with growing materials at almost all times of the year, there are many who live in towns and cities who, when flowers are expensive during the winter months, find that a dry arrangement is a very useful standby.
Dry flowers, however, were never meant to take the place of fresh flowers or foliage. But they are certainly timesavers, for they can be prepared in advance and brought out only when needed. In moist homes there is always one place where a permanent arrangement of dry material can stand when flowers are scarce or expensive. These arrangements need not be dull. A few years back, most arrangements were made from dried seed heads. Today, some of the most beautiful arrangements are made from dried summer flowers, which are preserved by hanging upside down.
The Hanging Method
This is quite a simple method: the flowers should be picked before they are fully mature, tied in small bunches and hung upside down in warm dark place. When they emerge, the flowers will be a little shrivelled, but none the less attractive for that and they should have retained most of their colour as the darkness keeps the colours from fading.
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