Artistic Flower Arrangements

Flowers are one of nature’s prettiest offerings. With hundreds of thousands of types of flowers out there, there is so much variety and choice available that it astounds the mind. There are flowers of every color and color combination, size, shape, density, texture, foliage etc. Every season brings different flowers to appreciate and love, be it the winter, spring, summer or autumn.

Today, flowers are used to provide color to empty spaces and bring life to inanimate areas, they are used to express feelings, to mark special occasions, i.e., birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, etc.,  and to bring joy to everyone.

The primary reason that flowers are so popular is that they are available to everyone. You don’t have to be rich to afford flowers. Even with the most easily and inexpensive flowers, you can make something beautiful. Everyone can work with flowers. You don’t have to be a professional florist to make those amazing flower arrangements you see in magazines and on TV.

So how do you learn how to make flower arrangements at home? There are two things involved – knowing the basic principles involved in arranging flowers, and using those principles to practice and experiment on your own till you are comfortable with what you’re doing.

The basic principles of flower arranging are to do with the form, line, shape, balance, texture, color, unity, proportion, harmony etc. By following the basics, your flower arrangement will be aesthetically pleasing and visually appealing.

One of the more important principles, one which ties together all the other basics of floral arrangement is Harmony.

Very simply put, harmony in a floral arranging is when all the elements used in the arrangement are in complete sync with each other and seem to belong together. When discussing harmony, you are not only talking about the flowers matching or belonging together, but also the flowers and foliage, the flowers and foliage with the container, the container with the space it has to share, the texture, shape, size, color etc. Basically a harmonious floral arrangement is striking to the eye without being over the top and without seeming very obviously contrived. It should look effortless to the viewer.

One way of achieving harmony in your arrangement is by trying to select those elements which have something (at least one thing) in common with each other, so that they fit together. This could be in size, color, texture and shape. If blended well together, then harmony has been achieved. For example, you should avoid choosing to put small flowers with oversized leaves as they don’t match. Similarly, if you put giant marigolds in a small vase, it will definitely look out of place.

For someone who is a beginner, harmony in a flower arrangement can easily and best be achieved through color. Color is very often the single most important element contributing to the harmony of your arrangement. By using monochromatic or analogous color combinations, a flower arrangement can look harmonious and visually striking. The simplest way of being sure that your color combinations are going to work is to check their positions on a color wheel. Adjacent colors generally belong together. For a contrast, opposite colors on a color wheel can be used.

Finally, harmony in a floral arrangement is achieved by of choosing the right elements and experimenting with different materials, colors, textures, shapes and styles.

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Here’s a little something about a recent floral arrangement I just did for my December newsletter about floral cake.

Well, anyway after I finished it, I was trying to figure out what I could do with it. So I called around the neighborhood to see if anyone had any birthdays or anniversaries coming up, but no one did. Then I remembered that one of our friends was in the local nursing home because of a series of strokes and I called her husband to see if she might like to have it as a New Years Get Well. He said sure so I had him take it to her. I changed the sign to say Happy New Year 2009 and added a sparkler candle to it. He took it over to her. She wasn’t in her room but in the community center room and so he put it on the table where she was. Everyone that came in saw it and thought she had gotten a cake for New Year’s. But when they looked closer they saw it was actually a floral arrangement. So I guess it accomplished what I set out to do. Make a floral cake (Sugar Free).

Learn about Flower arranging – FREE lesson and newsletter