subject: 3 Methods Of Thinking About Floral Design [print this page] Increasing creativity and a sensitivity to patterns, colors and texture is something that a flower arranging hobby can offer. Flower arranging is a tradition that spans far back into history as a relaxing and engaging activity. You've probably seen flowers arranged in a vase, but they are not limited there. Some interesting and unconventional approaches to flower arranging is to arrange the flowers to appear to be the face of an animal or to grow them in cupcake dishes. If you have children, this is an activity that you can do with them, as they can create their first masterpieces out of simple garden flowers. There are a few categories of flowers in flower arranging that an aspiring florist should be aware of.
Focal Flowers: Focal flowers are what we like to call the attention hoggers, because the whole piece revolves around them. Great in detail and size, these flowers draw the eye to the piece and keep it there. Peonies, roses, hydrangeas, football chrysanthemums and lilies are commonly used as the focal flowers of a floral arrangement piece.
Line Flowers: The focal flowers need to be tapered and spread out into the rest of the negative space via line flowers. They can be used vertically or horizontally to show the size of the piece as well. They should be a little quieter in character when compared to the focal flowers and should be long and lean. Gladioli, giant snapdragons, larkspur, freesias, and delphiniums are optimum choices when utilizing line flowers.
Filler Flowers: Filler flowers fill in the negative space surrounding the line flowers and focal flowers. Filler flowers are made up of clusters of tiny flowers connected to long branching stems. Statice, wax flowers, baby's' breath, limonium and solidaster are types of filler flowers that you can use.
Flower arranging is not just a private affair, there are professionals who do this for a living! Say you have an event, like a wedding, you'll want to test out some ideas. That way you can tell the florist exactly what you like.
