Ottawa Horticultural Society

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Any Foliage, Filler or Flowering Shrub

This refers to the paragraph inserted at the beginning of the flower-show classes, and most flower arrangers are delighted to see it there. There may be a few purists who feel that the foliage provided by nature for the various flowers is good enough for them. These people need read no further.

Foliage is self-explanatory; Filler is defined by Ontario Judging Standards as "small flowers such as gypsophila, sta­tice, etc., or contrasting plant material such as cattails, catkins and bittersweet used within an arrangement in a secondary role" and Flowering shrub is pretty clear, except that it is not stated that the shrub need not be flowering when it is used.

The reason for using these materials is to achieve some effect which the foliage of the flowers composing the main part of the arrangement cannot provide. Japanese, or Line arrangements are next to impossible to make effectively without the help of some firm branches. Also to be considered are the contrasts in textures and colours which are made possible by careful use of "any foliage, etc."

Having decided to include any of these materials that may help to improve our arrangements, the next consideration is what to use where, and whether to grow materials especially for this purpose.

The following is a partial list of such material that has been found useful. The comments will show that there are few that are grown for one purpose only: not many of us have a lot large enough for this sort of extravagance.

Shrubs

Forsythia ovata This forsythia can be forced into bloom a month or so before it blooms out-of-doors. Outdoors it usually coincides with the daffodils, and sometimes with the earlier tulips. It should be noted that ovata is the only forsythia that will bloom reliably above the snow line in our climate. Forsythia is a difficult bush to prune, but well-pruned it is a lot less useful as line material. In the autumn the leaves turn very deep purplish bronze, sometimes almost black, often in time to complement the chrysanthemums. At this stage it may be desirable to remove some of the leaves to indicate the 'line' more clearly.

Prunus tomentosa (Manchu cherry) blooms, like the forsythia, before the leaves appear. It usually starts to bloom about mid-May. The flowers are an attractive pale pink, fading to very pale as they mature. The humming-birds love them. The fruits, which ripen in late July are less useful to the flower arranger, but they make excellent jelly.

High bush cranberry is another shrub

that is a nightmare to prune, and again, unpruned it is extremely useful. The blooms occur about the same time as the iris and paeonies which is fortunate as these flowers can hold their own very well against the rather large round heads in which they occur. During August the fruits begin to change colour, and it is at this stage when they are yellow and orange, with a little red that they are again useful. A word of warning: branches with a lot of fruit are heavy, and should not be used in any container that might tip.

Red barberry This is an example of a shrub whose flowers are more often a liability than an asset. The leaves grow very closely on the branches, and a lot of them often need to be removed. The foliage is very effective with reds and pinks, as long as the yellow flowers are not providing their share of distraction.

Buddleia, which is not reliably hardy in the Ottawa area, has been known to survive several years, especially when it is grown near the foundations of the house. As it now comes in a number of colours as well as the original deep purplish blue it can be very useful. The flowers occur in long spikes and used with large flowers can be most attractive.

One other shrub has been very useful: a dwarf Cotoneaster, which has neat little leaves, small enough to be used in miniature arrangements.

Other shrubs come to mind, from observation rather than from experience: Japanese Quince, the Weigelas, Kolkwitzia, Rhododendron, Oregon Grape, to name a few.

Among the perennials, leaves of the various hostas, thalictrum, and bleeding­heart as well as iris leaves, paeony leaves, and yucca spikes with bits of thread apparently hanging from them are very valuable. Ferns are a mixed blessing. They are difficult to condition, and cannot always be relied upon to stay conditioned.

Of the flowers, probably the veronicas, and particularly the white veronica, are the most valuable as well as being hardy and easy to grow. They also bloom over a longer period than many perennials, and re-bloom quite satisfactorily if the first spikes are removed as soon as they fade. Dictamnus (Gas Plant) may be appropriate if the arrangement is large enough, and liatris, particularly the white one, is invaluable.

Two other groups remain to be considered, climbers and annuals. Among the annuals Dusty Miller must surely provide the most interesting foliage. Ambrosinia, which will seed itself year after year produces long and rather attractive spikes, green in summer, turning, to a dull but pleasant brown in the autumn, it may be used in bouquets of dried flowers. It might be mentioned that this spike has a distinct smell, described in the seed catalogues as "pleasingly aromatic" and by others as "like varnish". The smell disappears as the spike dries.

Having omitted to mention the perennial gypsophila, the annual one should be considered. While the perennial variety is so fine as to produce almost a haze, the annual has slightly larger flowers and makes a bit more of an impression. Other useful (and dual-purpose) annuals are the statices which may be dried. They come in a variety of colours and shapes, of which the dark blue is probably the least helpful. A new pink (Suworowii) looks very desirable from its picture in the catalogue, but then what flower doesn't?

If one may generalize, and probably one should not, it seems that the spiky and fairly pale coloured flowers make the best filler. With this idea in mind, mention of the salvias was to have been omitted. However, since the development of pink salvias and the increasing popularity of the Clary types which have quite inconspicuous flowers and blue or pink bracts, they should not be overlooked.

Climbers, on the whole, have such interesting stem-patterns that it seems almost unnecessary for them to have leaves, not to mention fruits or flowers. Wintercreeper, bittersweet, dutchman's pipe, climbing honeysuckle and the perennial sweet-pea have stems that are usually strong enough to stand on their own. Ivy, philodendron, annual sweet­pea and the clematis White Star (which has small white flowers) all need some support. This can be provided easily by using any bare branch of a pleasing shape. It is not a bad idea to make a small collection of attractive branches: they can also be used (painted or not) in Christmas decorations.

It should be stressed that this is not a very complete list: it is merely a description of some of the material that has been found useful, and as one's experiments continue, further additions may be made. At present, a system of conditioning some of the gourd stems and foliage, as well as Engelman's ivy is being sought. In this connection, others might be encouraged to know that every now and then something has to be given up as hopeless. Outstanding in this group is the foliage of Pulmonaria. In the garden the leaves, beautifully spotted, stand in graceful curves. Cut them, soak them or not, and they collapse like damp tissue paper. Any suggestions?

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