Flower frogs are devices that sit in a container of water or hold water themselves and are structured in a way to help to hold the flower stems in a
flower arrangement as desired. They may be
metal,
pottery,
ceramic,
glass or organic materials such as
vines. They may be
decorative or purely
functional. Although not actually a “flower frog”- an aggregation of smaller objects such as marbles, stones, polished glass or even fruits such as cranberries or lemons may also be used for the purpose of holding flower stems in place. Wire can be loosely twisted in a ball and placed in the container. Tape can be placed over the mouth of the container in a grid to provide structure. In addition a material called “
oasis” and other Styrofoam like materials are frequently used for this purpose.
Flower frogs have become a popular
collectors item. Searches in
Ebay will yield small ceramic objects like hollow ladies heads with holes for flowers or more plain glass circles or animal shapes with holes to sit in the bottom of a vase. Some flower frogs sell for hundreds of dollars. Jackie O’s collection of purely functional frogs sold at auction for over $4000. Searches on google.com will yield personal pages with pictures of collections of “flower frogs” that fill every surface of the
collectors’ homes. Flower Frog Gazette is a publication dedicated to these collectors. There is also a website at www.flowerfrog.com. These little things seem to really catch some peoples' attention and
pocketbook.
The etymology of the term “flower frog” is hard to trace down. Most commonly I see speculation that the term refers to the fact that the objects sits in the water, like a frog. In fact, many ceramic or pottery flower frogs are actually in the shape of frogs.
Personally, the function of flower frogs is what I like. I use a set of heavy metal
pincushion like frogs in the bottom of
vases and impale the flower stems at the angle I want for the
flower arrangement. I also have a few glass frogs that sit in the top of vase and place
flower stems through them. I enjoy
flower arranging and flower frogs are a useful part of this
hobby.