How To Create The Best Flower Arrangement

The art of flower arrangement is very old with some of the earliest arrangements dating back to the ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago (around 2,500 BCE, to be precise). Other cultures around the world have also created their own arts of flower arranging such as in Japan.

While ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging, flower arranging in the Western world is quite a different craft. Flower arrangements can be used for virtually any occasion and any space, but it’s not so simple as throwing in some flowers and branches into a vase and calling it a day. Instead, there is a certain science behind the arrangement process which is what we will explore in this blog.

You might be wondering if there is any point in learning the art of flower arrangement, and there certainly is. If you’ve always wanted to give your home some extra flair and atmosphere, the right mixture of flowers is exactly what you need. But where should you start?

Choose Your Flowers

Flower arranging all begins with choosing the right flowers. The main way you choose your flowers is by color since the colors will give a certain mood to your arrangement. For example, some flower bouquets are full of monochrome flowers while others follow a certain pallet. Others still might use almost every color in the spectrum.

You could also break against certain color schemes. For instance, you could include a few brightly colored flowers in an otherwise monochrome arrangement. The bottom line is that it is almost impossible to go wrong when choosing colors for your arrangement. As long as you can make all the colors come together in a certain way, you’re on the right track.

Prepare Your Flowers

Once you choose your flowers from your local store or market, you shouldn’t plop them into the nearest vase just yet. The reason why you shouldn’t do this is that, if you do, you’ll find that your flowers will die quite quickly. Instead, if you prepare them properly, their beauty will last much longer.

The first step you should take includes removing any dead or damaged leaves from the flowers and stems. This will not only make the flowers look better but will also keep the flowers from pouring unnecessary energy into damaged leaves. For the same reason, you should remove any buds as well. Finally, cut the bottoms of each flower stalk at a diagonal and place the stalks in water enriched with flower food. Flower food will also help your flowers live longer.

Choose The Right Vase

While the focus of flower arranging is often on the flowers (unsurprisingly), much of the beauty also comes from the vessel you put your flowers in. Of course, you can’t very well appreciate the beauty of carefully-chosen flowers if you put them in a wrinkled cardboard box. The right vessel is also important for ensuring that your flowers don’t fall over, especially if they’re heavy.

Beyond that, the right vessel is also important for making sure that your flower arrangement won’t shift around. You can choose any vessel you want as long as it complements your arrangement. Ceramic vases and wicker baskets and everything in-between are all great options. To really make sure your flowers stay in place, you can try using floral tape.

Create Your Base

Once you have your flowers and your vessel, you might be wondering where you should start when it comes to arranging. You should always start with leafy green foliage such as ivy before any flowers.

The benefit of long green stalks is that you can bend them in various ways and add a certain 3-dimensional look to your arrangement that can’t be achieved with flowers alone which only offer vertical dimensions.

Add The Main Flowers

Once you have your base, it is, of course, time to add the main flowers. One thing you should absolutely never do is place all of your flowers standing straight up. This will make your arrangement look stiff and unnatural.

Instead, you should try to arrange your flowers so they create a dome-like shape as they sprout out of your chosen vessel. If you have many small flowers, try to group them together while leaving larger flowers scattered throughout the arrangement. This way of arranging flowers will ensure that your flowers take up the most amount of space possible and leave very little empty space.

The Final Details

No matter how well you pack your flowers into your vessel, there will always be some empty space between your flowers. This is alright, however, because you can fill in these spaces with filler flowers. Filler flowers are small flowers that offer a change in texture and depth when placed around larger flowers.

Again, avoid vertical arrangements and instead try to place flowers in a manner they would assume in nature. For the final details, don’t be afraid to add in a few delicate flowers throughout the arrangement that can add a bit of extra flair but don’t distract away from the focal points of the arrangement. Then, spray your arrangement with some water to give it a fresh and supple look.

After that, your flower arrangement will be complete and you can consider yourself one of the many people who have mastered the art of flower arranging over thousands of years.