Anything is Posy-ble.
From the 2021 Archives
Ordinarily, when we set out to create a piece of botanical art, we start with a clear design in our heads as well as on paper. We did research images of posies, preserved bouquets, porcelain flowers, Victorian nosegays, and details, and these we shared back and forth. However, in this case, once we saw the very tiny proportions of the supplied container and we considered how to fit our vision into the reality of the space and container, we approached the project somewhat differently. We came up with the backstory which would allow our design ideas to coalesce into something somewhat believable, and then we wrote our intent. Our backstory was of a nineteenth-century young love in France. The fellow decides to propose to his sweetheart in Grandmère’s garden of floral and faunal delights. He hides his ring in the posy of flowers picked earlier, from her garden, and preserved with Grandmère’s help for his love to keep as a memento of their special day. This allowed us to create an ebullient and floriferous bouquet with numerous insects hiding within. In this context, the fact that the container was so slim (and wouldn’t hold much water) became functionally less important.
Our next challenge was that working isolated in our homes due to Covid, we weren’t sure if we were working at the same scale or with the same coordinating aesthetics. To address scale, we each had time with the container in our possession to determine what size to make the varied elements. Then we each went with our design instincts, and we had agreed on a color scheme, which would help our creations marry well. We understood that we might not use all of the components we created, but that we needed a pool of choices. So, one of us went all-in making an alphabet’s worth of different blossoms and fruits while the other focused on several centerpiece blooms, a detailed and beaded ‘lace doily’ to embrace the posy, and, especially, the numerous jeweled insects that we would tuck into the bouquet.
The day came when we gathered, masked, with some trepidation, but also excited, hoping that over the winter weeks we had created something worthwhile out of the bits and pieces gathered in our yards and on walks. As it turned out, the biggest challenge was not if the individual pieces went together but how to keep the many stems together and how to protect the very fragile individual elements. The first challenge was easily solved by carving a piece of floral foam into a half-dome with a cone, extending into the container. The second challenge of protecting the delicate flowers and insects was difficult and required both nimble fingers and a fair number of repairs. The range of colors helped in creating the composition, as we decided to space the elements for a repetition of colors and forms throughout.
If we can inspire you to believe that a young man once had the passion, patience, and a doting Grandmère willing to help him preserve a bouquet, then we feel we have come close to creating the ‘prop’ needed to tell our love story.
Blog by Alice Farley and Leslie Purple, Wissahickon Garden Club, Zone V
Division IV of this year’s show features two classes of stunning botanical arts entries you won’t want to miss.