Increase your confidence with creating floral arrangements with our guide to the four components that can help you design a memorable display every time.
Whether you’re looking to create your first floral arrangement or you’re an experienced arranger ready to elevate your pieces, understanding the fundamentals that lie behind the art of flower arranging is a great place to start.
While you should never let your imagination be limited – do what makes your heart happy most of all – using this formula can offer some helpful guidance, especially if you’re still developing your own sense of style.
Each individual arrangement is unique, inspired by seasonal blooms and individual creativity, but when you dissect the different components, you might start to see some surprising similarities. Most floral arrangements will be built on four main components: foliage, focal, supporting, and filler flowers.
Each of these serves its own purpose and plays a different role in your display, coming together to create something truly spectacular.
Read on to learn more about the role that each component plays and how you can use them in your own arrangements:
1. Foliage
Foliage is one of my favourite parts of any arrangement. Far from being boring, the shades of green, brown, and deep burgundy that these pieces provide always inspire me. I also love the way they build structure into my pieces. The addition of foliage can transform a display, taking it from a beautiful bouquet to a true work of art.
I find it helpful to think of foliage like the shrubs in our garden; they work to break up the space, define its shape, and set the overall tone of the design. It’s often also the foliage that connects your arrangement to the season: think lush green eucalyptus, and silvery-green eucalyptus populus in spring, floaty wild grasses and ferns in summer, blush tipped eucalyptus in Autumn, and pine in winter.
2. Focal
These stems are the stars of the show. Your focal flowers will be the first to catch the eye of anyone viewing your arrangement, drawing them in closer to discover the more subtle intricacies of your design. That’s why focal florals tend to be large and attention-grabbing, whether that’s due to their shape, colour, or size.
Less is often more when it comes to focal flowers; you don’t need many stems to make an impression. I like to use odd numbers of focal flowers to ensure it looks natural some my favourite are:
3. Supporting
In most arrangements, your supporting flowers will play two roles. Not only will they complement your focal flowers, but they’ll also help to reinforce the shape defined by your foliage. I think tall stems are great supporting blooms, they provide height as well as a touch of dramatic flair.
When choosing your supporting flowers, consider pieces that complement your focal stems and provide visual intrigue. Some of my favourite supporting flowers to use are:
4. Filler
The final component is your filler flowers. This group of flowers are often the most delicate stems that help pull a design together. Fill in gaps, conceal the mechanics and enhance the complete design.
Whilst focal flowers help to draw your eye to the arrangement, the filler flowers are what bring the design to life adding movement, depth and texture. Some of my favourites are:
