Ribbons and Bows . . . . . . . . . . 61 Types of Ribbon . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Making Bows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Tools for Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Tools for Binding and Adhering. . . . . 68 Other Useful Tools . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Keeping and Caring for Tools. . . . . . 70 Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Floral Foam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Wire Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Bouquet and Corsage Holders . . . . . 74 Picks and Other Indispensables . . . . 74 Armatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Shop Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Ergonomics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Personal Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 First Aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Chapter 4 Plant Structures and Functions. . . . . . . . . . .84 Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Plant Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Genus and Species . . . . . . . . . . 89 Plant Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Leaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Stems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Plant Physiology . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Leaf Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Stem Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Root Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Growing Plants . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Chapter 5 Postharvest Processing, Conditioning, and Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 Harvesting and Shipping . . . . . .108 Pretreatments. . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Packing and Transportation . . . . . 110 Purchasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Post-Shipment Processing and Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 Rehydration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Preservatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Storage Considerations . . . . . . .116 Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Relative Humidity and Circulation . . 117 Ethylene Sensitivity. . . . . . . . . . 117 Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Foliage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Chapter 6 Principles of Design . . . . .126 Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Visual Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Symmetrical Floral Designs . . . . .131 Asymmetrical Floral Designs . . . .132 Proportion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 Rule of Thirds. . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 The Golden Ratio. . . . . . . . . . . 136 Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137 Scale Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . 137 Cost and Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Scale vs. Proportion . . . . . . . . . 138 x