[TheForge] Leaf forms

[Dan Armstrong]

I am doing a railing and want to incorporate  fairly realistic looking iris leaf forms. No flowers, just six or so leaves growing out of a common bud, if you will. The iris leaf is generally longish, tapering to a point and roughly 90 degree angled in cross-section for those who can't picture it. 

I expect that if I tore one of these plants apart (which I may do when the snow's gone), I would discover that they are rounded at the bottom and interleaved, as it were, with one another from a common stem and branching out from there. I would like to achieve the look of the leaves emerging from a central bud but will have a 1 1/2" horizontal flat bar running at the base of this plant element which could hide welds and such.

Any thoughts on how to attach the leaves at the bottom, more or less as happens in nature, which will then allow them to bent, curved, etc., to approximate the actual plant ?  I have to do 5 of these so also any suggestions re: tooling to make and shape the leaves, to curve them and give them life would be appreciated. 

Thanks.

Dan A.