Any good design is the sum of its parts. The best floral arrangements are composed of four key components: greenery, line flowers, focal flowers, and filler flowers.
Table of Contents
Greenery
Greenery serves as the foundation of most arrangements. Use greens to cover your container or as a vase filler to hold flowers in place. Greens with a broad leaf, such as leather leaf, provide the best coverage and are sturdy enough to keep flowers from budging.
Include different shades and textures of greens, from soft ferns to long grasses, such as bear grass. You can even create a fresh and long-lasting display from a simple assortment of only greens. Try lemon leaf, eucalyptus, Italian ruscus, plumosa, or evergreens, such as boxwood, holly, or white pine. Trailing greens, such as ivy, or greens that droop over the edge of your container, such as amaranthus, create soft lines and lend an earthy feel.
Line Flowers
Line flowers are tall, spiky flowers that you use to give height and shape to your floral arrangement. Look for tall, sturdy varieties, such as delphinium, snapdragons, or bells of Ireland. Use line flowers to manipulate the arrangement into the shape that you’d like it to take.
Focal Flowers
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Whatever type of arrangement you’re going for, it’s a good idea to choose a few larger flowers to act as focal flowers. These bring interest and impact to your design and are usually the first flowers to draw the eye. Any large or showy blooms, such as hydrangeas, lilies, and peonies, will do. Use an odd number of focal flowers to create a more natural look.
Filler Flowers
After you’ve chosen your line and focal flowers, pick a few varieties of filler flowers to complement them. Filler flowers add shape and fullness to the arrangement and fill in spaces between the line and focal flowers. Filler flowers typically have several smaller blooms on each stem. Look for an assortment of daisies, miniature carnations, statise, baby’s breath, wax flowers, or solidago.
