Stream Corner

As far as colour is concerned, the general colour scheme of the house will have a great bearing on the choice of material; rather dull coloured rooms, for instance, are an ideal setting for the scarlet hued varieties and the brilliant yellow and orange shades, while pink and salmon shades look exceptionally well in the light modern rooms in which the decorations are of a neutral tone or consist of pale greens and fawns and so on.

Deep bronze containers, for example, are beautiful vehicles for the golden and autumn shaded varieties, whilst the delicate shades of an old piece of china may suggest the coolness of the pale lavenders and mauves. However a direct contrast is more effective in the majority of cases. Vases are best used for arrangements which face in one direction only; generally speaking a circular arrangement in which the stems radiate from the centre, that is the lip of the vase, is the most effective. It is considered that the height of the flowers in such arrangements should be one and a half times the height of the vase to give an ideal balance; this applies whether the container is a true vase, or a chalice on some sort of pedestal.

Bowls can be used for all round arrangements for the centre of a table and for the very effective "line" arrangements which are so popular today. The term "bowl" must be interpreted very loosely, because it may vary from a deep soup plate to a hollow log of wood with a water container inserted, as well as covering a wide range of diverse articles capable of holding water.

The triangular arrangement is particularly attractive, and is capable of many variations. Generally the base line is kept low, the apex being centrally placed over the centre of the container; but the whole can be tilted to one side or other to give an off centre appearance, or as another alternative the arrangement may be based on a line suggested by a right angled triangle. This form is particularly useful where a log of wood, or other unusual container of flat formation is used.

If shallow bowls are used for arranging the flowers, it is essential to use a pin holder on to which the stems of the flowers are pressed; these holders are also useful in the rather deeper bowls with wide mouths, although it is an advantage to use a wire grid in addition. Chicken wire of 1 in. mesh is excellent for this purpose, firmly pressed into position inside the bowl, just below the rim.

Both the pin holder and wire grid can be held in place with plasticine. Chicken wire is also helpful when using vases or comparatively narrow necked bowls, but in this case the wire mesh should be crumpled lightly before pressing it into position.