Budding talent

MLHS floral shop class demanding but fun

MOSES LAKE - The crew that runs the floral shop at Moses Lake High School was busy last week. Really busy. Day-before-Mother's-Day-delivery busy.

After all, they had - how many floral arrangements had been ordered?

"A lot," said senior Taylor Anderson as she worked on an arrangement featuring pastel orange roses,

"Thirty. . . one?" said junior Stevee Lincoln. She was concentrating on an arrangement featuring deep red and bright yellow blossoms. Family and consumer science instructor Catherine McPherson said the shop had about 30 orders, and they had to be ready for delivery Friday morning.

So when somebody wandered through, looking for a little information about the proper way to build a floral arrangement, the conversation was a little, well, disjointed.

Are there principles to good floral design? Are there ways to extend the life of a bouquet?

"Odd numbers are best," Lincoln said.

"Three talls?" Anderson asked McPherson as she surveyed her half-finished arrangement.

Yes, McPherson said, and, when putting together an arrangement, what about color?

"I haven't really thought," Anderson said, searching for just the right accents in a bucket of blossoms.

"Opposites on the color wheel," Lincoln said. She was moving on to a new vase, actually a small decorative bucket, filled with greenery.

Color theory provides a floral artist with a different options. "Purples and yellows look really good together because they're opposites on the color wheel. Or colors that are really close to each other on the color wheel," Lincoln said. "Like orange and yellow."

Floral artists also can take a triangular approach, going with three shades from the color wheel. "Pinks and purples and yellows together," Anderson said.

Lilian Caro broke in to ask for daisies, but unfortunately they were in short supply. "What are we going to do if we don't have any more daisies?" she asked. More would arrive on Friday morning, McPherson said.

Blue and yellow flowers work together too, Anderson said. "There aren't really blue flowers," Lincoln said.

"The blue talls," said Erikka Santacruz.

"Well, they're not really blue," Anderson said.

OK, so are there principles when it comes to design? What flowers should go where? An overcrowded arrangement is a problem. "You don't want it all squished-looking," Lincoln said.

"It's not good to have the same kind of flowers all in a straight line," Anderson said. With one arrangement done, she moved on to the next one.

The students who run the floral shop are required to commit to about 80 additional hours in a semester, McCullough said. The students make all the floral arrangements for the Moses Lake prom. "Not just the prom. All the dances," Caro said.

The floral shop crew is responsible for the arrangements at graduation and other school events. They also sell arrangements to individuals.

As a result they have to operate it like a for-profit business, writing invoices, ordering flowers and supplies, tracking orders to ensure they're completed. The flowers that go out the door are a group effort. "Everybody works together to make the arrangements," McCullough said.

Despite the demands it's a good class, the girls said. "We just have fun in here," Santacruz said. They've become good friends, Caro said.