Saturday, July 22nd, 2023
Wake up and smell the roses
Award-winning bouquets take time, skill
By Leslie Gartrell
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Floral designer and master judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs Juanita Wilkins leads a class on how to create a successful floral arrangement for the upcoming Mercer County Fair. The class took place at the Mercer County Fairgrounds on Wednesday afternoon.
CELINA - Creating an award-winning floral design takes more than just arranging flowers into a bouquet - it requires technical skill, an artistic eye, and flawless blooms.
The Designing Women's Floral Club led an informative session on how blue-ribbon entries are selected at the Mercer County Fair. Juanita Wilkins, a decorated floral designer and master judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs (OAGC), discussed how to prepare cultivar, flowers and designs for display and what judges look for in an award-winning presentation.
The Mercer County Fair will have two floral shows on Aug. 11 and Aug. 14, where exhibitors will have the chance to compete to see who has the best cut flowers and artistic designs in the county.
Charlene Guingrich, club member and Mercer County Fair floral department superintendent, said floral design exhibitors can grow, purchase or obtain their plants from any source. All entires should be natural, which means the entry has no paint or artificial colors, plant shine or other unnatural enhancements.
"You don't want to use that because judges will know you did," she said. "I don't know how, but they do."
The floral department is the only department at the Mercer County Fair that has open judging, Guingrich said.
"The judge shows the flowers and she tells (exhibitors) why this rose is the perfect rose or whichever cultivar she's looking at… you learn what looks right, what the judge is looking for," she said.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
A bucket of colorful flowers wait to be arranged into a beautiful bouquet.
Judges are trained to have a keen eye for details. Wilkins said judges examine everything from stem height and straightness, to pollen fallout, bud formations and bloom size.
For example, roses generally should have open petals and a tight center. However, exhibitors can also enter roses and other flowers that are "full blown," meaning the center of the flower can be seen.
She noted designers can remove errant pollen from petals with a Q-tip or paint brush, and leaves with small holes can often be remedied with careful trimming.
"You want to remove all dirt, anything ugly," she said. "You can do a lot."
Artistic design competitors this year have been asked to create arrangements that evoke "Melodies in the Garden." Whether competing in the advanced or novice categories, designers will be challenged with constructing exhibits that show motion, have size constraints, feature specific flowers and more.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Linda Freeman, Celina, carefully trims some damaged greenery.
Judges typically look for symmetry, balance, depth, texture and use of negative space in a design. Arrangements with beautiful blooms but lack foliage can look thin and sparse; at the same time, designs overflowing with flowers can look overcrowded and unbalanced.
"You want to do anything you can to make them symmetrical, even, balanced," she said. "You want a design that says, 'Look at me!'"
Wilkins said exhibitors can stabilize their arrangements by using wet or dry foam to keep flowers in place. Designers can place aluminum cans or paper cups upside down inside a vase to artificially fill it, giving arrangements more height and structure.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Donna Brunswick, Fort Recovery, concentrates as she adds some foliage around a rose during a floral design demonstration at the Mercer County Fairgrounds on Wednesday afternoon.
She noted many floral designers use green vases to mask foam and similar supporting materials. She also recommended cutting flower stems on a diagonal in order to make the stems easier to push into foam.
For more information on the Designing Women's Floral Club, contact Guingrich at charlene1119@live.com.
Rules and additional information about floral department fair submissions can be found in the 2023 Mercer County Fair book. Fair books are available at the fairgrounds, located at 1001 West Market Street, during regular office hours, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Fridays.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Linda Freeman adds some finishing touches to her flower arrangement.
