Saying it right with flowers

Radha Prathi, Jan 9, 2015, DHNS

A little foliage or some flowers can magically transform a premises into an attractive area within no time. While doing up the place, fresh blossoms is the way to go. But, it can prove to be a little cumbersome to do it on a daily basis. 

Most people may not be able to procure flowers of their choice all the time or maintain the freshness for a couple of days. Sometimes, the floral expenses can burn a hole in the pocket. And then, there are times when people simply do not find what they want. The panacea to such a situation lies in the world of artificial flowers.

Materials like refined plastic, satin, nylon socks, gold foils, silver foils, glass play clay, Plaster of Paris et al have been utilised by mankind to recreate the beauty of natural flowers. In fact, Harvard University houses a huge bouquet of glass flowers, which represent the flora of the United States of America. Each of them has succeeded on its own strength and beautified the surroundings with its aesthetic presence. Yet they have been nowhere near the original by any length of imagination.

Saying it with flowers can never become an outdated trend. Globalisation has made it possible for us to have access to the rarest of blooms, which at times, come with a hefty price tag. All said and done, these natural flowers wilt away and their fragrance gives way to a festering stench. 

However, when people select the cheaper option, they end up with plastic flowers that stick out like a sore thumb in their gaudy colours, tacky thickness wired together in gauche bunches. But that is passé now. The market of artificial flora is flooded with the most exotic varieties that give their natural counterparts a run for their money.

Spoilt for choice
Fine materials coupled with finer technology handled by creative folks have unleashed a mind-boggling range of flowers, leaves, fruits, plants and trees. Bouquets, garlands, festoons and single roses are being created with such perfection and presented with élan. Modern showrooms, which house these wonders, ensure that the potential customers are led into the tantalising world of senses. 
The details include a spectrum of colours, which please the sight, as well as the softness of petals, the hirsuteness of stalks, the sharpness of blunted thorns, the wetness of dewdrops, the dryness of twigs and coolness of leaves, appealing to our sense of touch. Some manufacturers also manage to use essential oils to perfume the flowers much on the lines of its native fragrance. Of course, all of them come with a price tag, which ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand rupees.

A little investment and creativity can help us mix and match the flowers in terms of colour scheme, density, height and style. Indoor and outdoor flower arrangement needs can be taken care of with aplomb. They can be washed clean of dust from time to time under running water to renew their looks.

Event managers, movie and television studios and homemakers alike are revelling in the world of man-made flora to take care of their floral needs. The flowers that will not wilt in heavy floodlights meet their fiscal and aesthetic expectations. If one spends a little money, time and imagination at an outlet that caters to their needs, it is possible for people to pick, flowers, leaves, twigs, berries, vines, among others, and mix and match them according to their needs.
That extra something
Floral accessories like extra dew drops, essential oil refills, stems, calyx, buds, extra layers of internal and external petals, stamens and pollens can be bought separately and used judiciously. Other accessories like artificial colourful petite birds, squirrels, ladybugs, butterflies and bees can also be procured in these very shops and used to embellish the arrangement.

The vast range of manmade flora reminds one of King Solomon and his puzzle. Long long ago, a very clever craftsperson decided to simulate nature and created a number of artificial flowers and leaves. They were arranged as a breathtakingly beautiful bouquet.
The craftsman inserted a real flower in the bunch and presented the same to King Solomon. The king and his courtiers were challenged to identify the original flower. When close examination failed to obtain results, the clever king summoned the court windows to be opened. After a while later, a bee from the garden buzzed along and settled on the genuine flower, helping the intelligent king to rest his case.

It is needless to say that we who live in the twenty-first century often feel like Solomon when we shop for our floral accessories!