1. CONSTRUCTING A FAN ARRANGEMENT
Written by:
Holli Bowman & David Lynn
Hall County Board of Education
April 2003
Modified by Georgia Agriculture Education Curriculum Office
September 2005

2. This presentation is designed to supplement the textbook, Floriculture: Designing & Merchandising, Unit 10, “Circular Arrangements”. The author is Charles Griner and it is published by Delmar Publishers.

3. Step 1: Selecting Materials
A low or pedestaled container
1 bunch of snapdragons
12 standard carnations
3 stems of pompon mums
3 stems of statice
1 bunch of leatherleaf fern
½ block of floral foam
Waterproof anchor tape
Floral preservative

4. Step 2: Preparing the Container
Select a low or pedestaled container for this design.
Soak floral foam in warm preservative solution and place it in the container.
The foam should protrude at least one inch above the rim of the container.
Secure the foam with waterproof anchor tape.

5. Step 2: Continued
Criss-cross the tape over the foam and attach the ends to the container.
Do not attach more than ½ inch of tape to the container.
Long strips of tape will be difficult to hide later.
The tape should be slightly off-center in order to insert a stem in the center of the foam.

6. Step 3: Creating the Outline
Use seven snapdragons to create the fan silhouette as shown in the image to the right.
The length of the flowers can be 1 ½ to 2 ½ times the width of the container.
The two lower snapdragons should angle over the rim of the container.
If the snapdragons have curved tips, they should curve upward.

7. Step 4: Accenting the Focal Area
Place the three remaining snapdragons inside the silhouette near the focal area.
The placement of linear flowers in this manner will help to integrate the outer line flowers with the mass flowers.
Make sure that the stems radiate.

8. Step 5: Greening the Foam
Green the foam with the leatherleaf fern, following the fan shape of the arrangement.
Be sure to add greenery to the back of the arrangement.
Even though this is a one-sided design the back is often visible.
All mechanics should be covered.

9. Step 6: Adding the Mass Flowers
Place a large carnation at the lower center of the design so that the flower extends out from the container several inches.
Place five to seven additional carnations at the outer edges of the design.
Place additional carnations in the area between the center carnation and the outer carnations.

10. Step 7: Adding Secondary Flowers
Insert blooms of pompon mums in the large spaces between the carnations.
Do not crowd the flowers.
Use the smaller blooms toward the edges of the design.

11. Step 8: Adding Filler Flowers
Add statice or other filler flowers to fill in the voids and soften the lines of the design.
Be careful not to crowd the flowers.
Sword fern can also be added at this time.
The filler flowers can be optional.

12. Step 9: Evaluating the Arrangement
Check your work.
Step back from the arrangement and observe it closely.
Move flowers as needed, but remember to make a new hole in the floral foam each time.