3D heart with 1000 Red Naomi! stems

3D heart with 1000 Red Naomi! stems

The makers of the brilliant 3D heart speak out on their eye-catching rose creation.

Johan van Leeuwen, Peter Ouwerkerk, Marcel Ordelman and Joop van Leeuwen of Ria took up the task of creating this mega design using the wonderful Red Naomi! Roses.

Peter Ouwerkerk tells about the arrangement:

Designer: Johan Van Leeuwen
		(Click for more information on Designer)

Materials needed for this mega design
- 1000 stems of Red Naomi!
- 1 small Cupid sculpture
- Heart-shaped frame
- A broad base and some decorative filling
- A water pumping system
- Oasis® Floral Foam

Dimensions of the whole design
- 2.75 meters wide
- 2.75 meters high (from ground 3.15 meters)
- 1.75 meters depth

Preparation process

It all begins with the large heart-shaped frame in a nicely welded pattern. At the location, the broad foundation is laid out, the frame is put up and then the tank plus the Oasis ® Floral Foam are all put in place. Then 10 large blocks of dry Oasis® Floral Foam are inserted at the centre of the frame. When wet, the Oasis ® Floral Foam weighs a massive 300 kilograms and more, so the structure must be very strong.

Sticking in the rose stems

As the Red Naomi! roses are stabbed into the blocks of Oasis ® Floral Foam, the whole arrangement slowly starts to take form; beginning with the outer edge that clearly brings out a heart shape.

Creating an arrangement of such magnitude is very labor intensive. Besides welding the frame to the desired shape, the configuration of the structure and adding the foam form required 3 men working for 3 hours straight. In addition to that the main job of shaping the stems took 2 men who spent about 4 hours to accomplish.

Filling the heart

Filling the heart is done symmetrically. First, the outer lines "drawn" below a center line. This elaborate process helps bring out the 3D effect, that’s why each stem has its own small distinct length from the floral foam.