A teacher at the Design College of KBSU spoke about floristry

There is an opinion that a florist is a flower seller, but in fact he is a specialist in arts and crafts, which requires an understanding of beauty, taste and, of course, professional training. Maria Teunova, teacher of the “Gardening and landscape construction” in Design College of KBSU, told us about all this. In the broad sense of the word, the activity of a florist is not limited to the preparation of bouquets and flower arrangements.

A person involved in landscape design and the formation of green areas in an urban environment is directly related to the elements of flowers and plants and, first of all, is an artist.

Maria came to the profession at the call of her soul, from childhood she was a creative child — she fantasized and drew for herself. After graduating from high school, she entered a faculty that was quite serious for a girl, acquiring the profession of a physicist. Having worked for fifteen years in her specialty in the city protection system, she made a sharp turn to the creative direction, becoming a student at the Design College of the KBSU, in her words, «for herself, for the soul.» The family tradition of working with the land became decisive in choosing the direction. The garden plot of the parents was not only a place of relaxation, but above all an opportunity to show love for nature. Thus, at the age of about thirty, Maria received a second education and found the happiness to apply her knowledge on the territory of the family garden: one of the evidence of this was the author’s flowerbed of herbs. According to Maria, the education received in adulthood turned her life upside down. Every day of training was conscious and purposeful, it was a way to realize inner potential. After graduating from college, she received various job offers, but only after becoming a teacher in her favorite specialty, she confidently embarked on a professional path. Today, along with the educational program, she shares with her students her discoveries, which were many during her student life.

«The landscape designer is not engaged in arranging bouquets, but he is engaged in art, the tools of which are plants, flowers and trees, their shape and color, leading to the harmony of space. He also works with flowers and plants, but unlike cut ones, growing species need certain conditions, not all of them can be planted together. This circumstance limits the landscape designer’s imagination, but since the range of plants and trees is huge, you can always find a way to realize your most daring idea. The subject of floristry and composition of flower arrangements was part of the course during my studies. Today’s course, including the laws of composition, color science and aesthetics, allows you to competently compose any flower arrangement, flower bed or flower garden. In a word, there are laws, the knowledge of which allows one to develop in any of these directions. Since we are engaged in growing plants and composing living growing compositions from them, students study such disciplines as soil science, agronomy and farming, agricultural technology, floriculture and tree growing.

Each plant requires an individual approach and close attention, and any of our students knows this. One of the important components in our work is color, but in the process of life cycles, this indicator for flowers, plants and trees is constantly changing. This creates certain difficulties, but is also an interesting condition in the work. A landscape designer, landscaper needs to take into account the future metamorphoses of living material and, on this basis, create a composition that will work for the idea in the future, supporting the concept. If in architecture and interior color is static, in our case it is a permanent metamorphosis. The black and white graphics of winter, the rise of spring blooms, the riot of green hues, and the phasing out of autumn’s fire towards November decadence are the same resources for a landscape designer that exist in a florist’s work with cut flowers. One, compensating for the other, gives rise to this or that picture for human contemplation.

In general, everything we do is addressed to people, serves their comfort and spiritual harmony. The diploma projects of our graduates are real objects, several of them are specially noted by the attestation commission. For example, an open square at the intersection of Lenina and Osetinskaya streets, the improvement of the territory in front of the hydro-mud bath in Nalchik, as well as the revitalization of the territory of the former bus plant in the city of Baksan and the territory of the autodrome and the square in front of it near the city of Chegem. The intensive work of the students gave a good result, the projects participated in the exhibition organized in the Atazhukinsky Garden at the festival on Youth Day. As for me, in parallel with teaching, I would like to grow perennial ornamental plants and take care of already created landscape gardening objects, since the beauty of the city in the long term depends on the specialized care of flowers and plants», — said Maria.

Publication link: https://www.kbpravda.ru/2022/07/23.pdf