They are one of the irreplaceable items of the florists. Briefly, flower frogs are organizers and apparatus items for flower arrangers which help them to provide flowers to stay in their positions, and hold them together as they are arranged. It is known that flower frogs date back to the 14th century, but it reaches other continents later on that. The oldest patent was issued to S. Van Stone in the US on July 13, 1875.
Another early creation is the mushroom-shaped, Mt. Washington condiment server/floral holder. A patent for this holder was issued to Andrew Snow, Jr. in 1893.
“The etymology of the term "frog" has proved more difficult to research than the actual items themselves. The term "frog" as it relates to a holder for flower stems does appear in 1968 in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, but it is not listed in the Oxford and Chamber's etymological dictionaries. How it came into general use remains a mystery. Over the years flower frogs have been referred to by many different names; such as flower blocks, flower bricks, flower holders, and floral arrangers.” As stated in “A Brief History of Flower Frogs” by Bonnie Bull.
Floral frogs have been known since the 14th century in Japan and have been used in many Ikebana arrangements. There are different types of flower frogs that have been used for many years, such as glass, metal, ceramic, etc. In Japan, a flower frog consists of pins to provide stick stems on it, called ‘Kenzan’. Placing the stems in between the metal pins or on a pin to hold stems upright is necessary. Flower Frog placed in the bottom of a container, by placing stems on a pin provides water easily access through stems so the arrangement can stay hydrated and have long life and these tools give floral structures stability. There are different types of flower frogs in use; Some of them contains holes instead of pins.
In our previous article “Lilies of Ikebana” we examined Japanese flower arrangement art Ikebana. The flower frog (Floral frog) has been used in this art for many years. They are allowing the artist to preserve their art from outer conditions. Because it is more eco-friendly compare to floral foams makes them preferable. These flower frogs are reusable items and many florists looking for second - hand antique ones to cause less harm to the environment. It is known that second-hand items have less carbon footprint than newly-produced ones so it makes them preferable.
