Design challenge!

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Joe Mioux

Joe Mioux

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Dec 15, 2004
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I always forget to take pics of the interesting things i do.... subliminally I think I do it on purpose so as not to duplicate.

Anyway...

Here is a design challenge that has a bit of a curve ball.

Funeral work.... family comes in orders a casket spray for a man....but before they see me and while they were at the funeral home.....

The family sees an arrangement I did from a previous funeral that moved out of the funeral home a couple hours earlier....

Colors... Starfighters/gazers and lavender roses, pink stuff...

Family comes in the shop, and they want to have a casket spray made of lavender/pink flowers and stargazers. No problem.... I suggest adding a few roses and liatris. I wanted to get it a bit more masculine....

O.K fine.

In the afternoon, the day prior to the viewing, one of the daughters calls me and asks if I could incorporate a couple of orchid plants into the casket spray.

that is the curve ball.....

We did this successfully....

My question, and I hope this will be a fun and an educational thread is ....

How do you incorporate two 4 inch orchid plants into a casket spray, hide the mechanics and make the casket spray have a nice design?

Joe

P.S. I will tell you how I did it later...

PPS, the family loved it!
 
Joe -

Too bad you don't have a photo. It sounds gorgeous! (I'm seeing red ti leaves in there somewhere, too.)

To add the orchids, we'd most likely remove the plants from the pots, wrap the root balls in baggies and then pick & wire them to the casket saddle foam. If placed first, they'd be fairly easy to work around and could be easily removed as keepsakes after the service.

Now, if they were 6" plants, we'd probably have to take more extreme measures. ;)
 
sounds lovely.

hmmmm....thinking of a double, cut a hole in the oasis, shake off the planting medium, and drop the plant in....or use an oasis wreath, and drop the plants in the middle.
 
Cathy:

I just used what i had available in the shop.... I just happened to have a lot of orchid plants floating around this time of year... sometimes being in the greehouse bus has its perks :)

Have you ever noticed the wonderful scents of orchids....

I have some really wild ones in right now... but there is this one purple/white, / cym/denro orchid plant that has an unbelievable bouquet!

joe

p.s. the pot was left on.... but you are close as to how i did this
 
Theresa said:
sounds lovely.

hmmmm....thinking of a double, cut a hole in the oasis, shake off the planting medium, and drop the plant in....or use an oasis wreath, and drop the plants in the middle.
Click to expand...


this is an option and a good one

Joe

Lets hear some more ideas!
 
A few wood picks taped to pots with waterproof tape for "stakes" then stuck in top of foam? Proably used John Henry casket saddle that allows for a second piece of foam placed directly in front of first so you have a greater area for fresh flowers (can't think of the name for those).
 
Hmm, I'm thinking both pots on back side of saddle, taped wired to hold the pots. Then take the greenery you have and fill around the pots (covering pots)finishing the greens as base. Incorporating the Lillie's and roses as main base of flowers. Did you let the orchids flow freely to fall closer to other flowers in the piece?

Cyndi
 
We did something similiar to this but with African violets in 4" pots. We forced sticks (Cowee or cut hyacinth stakes) through the soil and out of the holes in the bottom of the pots. The sticks were long enough to be firmly inserted into the wet foam. We did this part before we even began greening and designing of the other flowers. It was a big hit with the family. We used this technique because the children of the deceased wanted to take the plants home as remembrances after the funeral. Sadly, the plants were stolen off the grave before the family returned in the afternoon to retrieve them.

I can hardly wait to learn your clever solution to this, Joe!
 
I wish there was a pic also. I love this kind of thing.

I used small plants in funeral work in the past. First I mossed the pots and placed them before greening using a long cowee pick up the bottom of the pot. When greening the hardier greens being used were incorportated into the plant soil.

The casket spray I'm thinking of had a piece of driftwood from the cottage as as well. I also used raised pieces of oasis. It was a construction challenge but oh my the results were lovely. The family loved it too and said it "captured the essence of Dad". Now that's nice.

V
 
Connie said:
I can hardly wait to learn your clever solution to this, Joe!
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Hi Connie, thanks for you solution. I want to learn as well. That is why I posted this thread the way I did.

I want to hear how you (the collective "you", the plural from of "you", OR "yous" :confused: ) would do it.

I find this part of design fun and challenging. I just wish these challenges wouldn't be under deadline scenarios.

Joe

P.S. Now if any of you can tell me how to attach a 20lb chunk of concrete stepping stone to an 18 inche grapevine wreath, I'm all ears! ;) This question was actually asked of me.
 
Joe Mioux said:
Joe

P.S. Now if any of you can tell me how to attach a 20lb chunk of concrete stepping stone to an 18 inche grapevine wreath, I'm all ears! ;) This question was actually asked of me.
Click to expand...

I would drill holes in back of stepping stone, at an angle to come out the sides of the stone. Put wire thru the hole so you can attach the wreath. Hopefully the stone is round as well.

Cyndi

P.S. I love these kinds of challenges, keeps the mind busy.....
 
Joe Mioux said:
I just used what i had available in the shop.... I just happened to have a lot of orchid plants floating around this time of year... sometimes being in the greehouse bus has its perks :)
Have you ever noticed the wonderful scents of orchids.... have some really wild ones in right now... but there is this one purple/white, / cym/denro orchid plant that has an unbelievable bouquet!
Click to expand...

When you write so descriptively of your shop, it makes me green with jealousy!

We've done small pansy pots tucket into designs, and did as Connie said, with a hyacinth stake shoved through the pot into the foam. The pots are not hard to hide, with foliage, moss, ribbon loops and/or flowers clustered around them.

Sure wish you had a pic, but we'll settle for the solution.

On another note, what is it that makes families opt for pinks for a man's funeral? I try to suggest alternatives, but am always surprised when they think pinks are appropriate for a man. Do you all try to suggest alternatives to pinks & lavanders?

tracy
 
Hey Joe,
Did you ever give the details on how you handled the mechanics for the casket spray that included the potted orchids? I don't want this thread to drop until we all know how you did it!
 
my goal was to have each daughter be able to dis-assemble the casket spray and each have a flowering live orchid plant, pot and all.

Ideally, I would have preferred to have the both orchids together and flow from the center of the casket spray to a 45 degree angle to the lower right hand side (as you faced the cs). Better focal value.

Unfortunately, the pots were a problem. Two 4 inch pots bundled together would have been noticed.

So I placed each pot on opposite sided of the Casket Saddle Oasis block, one orchid flowed low right at 45 degree angle and the other low left at 45 degree angle.

How did i secure them?

I took four sets of two 18 ga wires floral taped together and hair pinned the flower stems to the sides of the oasis block. I only used half the length of the 18ga wire and then made a hair pin.

my orchids arrived with some cellophane around the pots. I used that cellophane to help anchor.

Picture the pots behind the Oasis touching each other because of the angle that the orchids flowed from the casket spray.

From a mechanics stand point, those four hair pins would not properly support the weight of the pots so I left the cellophane on and Philly pinned and wired picked the cellophane to the Oasis.

The orchids were properly secured and no matter which FD would touch them those pots would not come out.

having the pots behind the block allowed for me to cover the mechanics.

You could not see the pots at all.

Other than a bit of a different weight distribution, those two flowerng orchid stems looked just like fresh cut orchids inserted in the Oasis.

Joe
 
I'm sure it was beautiful. Thank you for the description - I love learning from fellow FC'ers.

As for the 20 pound stone in the grapevine wreath...Do you think it would work to display both on an easle as to let the easle carry the weight of the stone but still display the wreath? We asked our easle builder to create a ledge on our normal easle to hold the stone and that has been successful for us.
 
hangglidegirl said:
I'm sure it was beautiful. Thank you for the description - I love learning from fellow FC'ers.

As for the 20 pound stone in the grapevine wreath...Do you think it would work to display both on an easle as to let the easle carry the weight of the stone but still display the wreath? We asked our easle builder to create a ledge on our normal easle to hold the stone and that has been successful for us.
Click to expand...

To be honest, putting a wreath around a stepping stone is more work than I want to deal with. Bear in mind that customer wanted to hang it from a door or wall.

Joe
 
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