STAGING RINGS

Staging Rings can be inserted into the top of a vase to aid the arrangement of flowers at shows.

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Floral foam, used by many to display their exhibition flowers, contains single-use plastic and produces ‘microplastic’ when it breaks down. The drive by the Royal Horticultural Society to restrict its use at (RHS) flower shows in 2021 led us to design a reusable vase insert – or Staging Ring.

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The aim is for the vase insert to be fully reusable (lasting many years). It is designed to sit inside traditional polypropylene exhibition vases used by many horticultural societies and exhibitors in the UK. The holes are designed for the flower stems to pass through and into the water. Stems can be ‘locked’ in place by using pieces of spare stem as wedges. Different hole sizes and positions are possible within a standard ring shape.

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Prototypes were produced in late 2021, and the pictures in the gallery below show the various prototypes in use.  Optional stem offcuts can be used to temporarily lock the stems into place, as shown in some of the photos. 

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A small range of five Staging Rings was developed over the winter of 2021/22 to fit the standard plastic (Bikini) vases.  These give a good mix of hole sizes, with designs aimed at multiple uses.  These were trialled over the 2022 show season, particularly for use in exhibiting dahlias, daffodils, and gladioli, but also other types of flowers.  This testing showed that they work as intended.  

 

In March 2022, we also introduced Staging Rings to fit both metal and plastic Sweet Pea vases - to hold up to 15 stems in a traditional fan shape.   These have been used in the 2023 season.

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Following feedback, we also experimented with angled holes to see if that makes it easier to stage flowers with a traditional fan shape.