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Ingredients for a Lush Flower Arrangement



I am passionate about creating arrangements that have a lush, abundant look and show off each ingredient's best features, specially when they convey movement like arching stems, frilly foliage, and show stopping blooms.


To create this style, it's essential to use materials from each of six categories of ingredients. They are:






  1. Structural foliage

  2. Supporting ingredients

  3. Textural elements

  4. Supporting flowers

  5. Focal flowers

  6. Airy accents


The first ingredient is foliage. It establishes the framework and size of an arrangement. It forms the shape and sets the path to the next ingredient. This fist category is filled with shrubs, trees and wood branches. Some of them are:





Salal

Eucalyptus

Boxwood

Viburnum

Hedera







Then we move on to the supporting ingredients. Once the shape is established using the foliage, supporting ingredients mimic the existing framework and create a base for the next ingredients. The examples are vast and contain any foliage plant. Here are some of them:




Lady's Mantle

Spirea

Viburnum

Hypericum

Amaranth

Bell's of Ireland

Rosemary






Now we have the basic structure done, we move on to the textural ingredients. They help add dimention and movement to an arrangement. They are often foliage with curving or weeping movement, like vines, fruit of the branch, ferns, pods. Some of them are:




Honeysuckle

Hops

Clematis

Sweet pea

Fern

Angelica








Once the first three fundamental ingredients are in, supporting flowers infuse the bouquet with colour and interest. They are usually stems with sprays of blossoms, or we create clusters of flowers to mimic the way they are naturally in the garden. As many plant features change throughout the year, some ingredients can serve as multiple types depending on how they are used among other flowers and foliage. For example, Hellebores can be focal or supporting flowers depending on what they are combined with, or even textural ingredients if you are using their seed pods. I never restrict myself to any rule but it's easier to work if you have this information in mind. Here are some supporting flowers:





Cosmos

Spray Rose

Anemone

Ranunculus

Calendula

Larkspur

Foxglove






The next step is to add focal flowers. They are larger, showier flowers such as peonies, garden roses and dahlias. Each season has it's floral stars. Again they could have worked as supporting flowers in one season and become focal flowers in another season. Examples are:




Peony

Rose

Dahlia

Ranunculus

Aster

Lilly

Tulip






The final of the six are airy accents. They are ingredients that add magic to an arrangement. These delicate details are the finishing touches that take a bouquet to the next level, catching people's attention, drawing them in. They are feathery like materials like grasses, pods and tiny etherial flowers.





Fritillaria

Bleeding heart

Forget-me-not

Grass

Grain

Bluebells

Campion





The final tip is to work with a wider variety. The wider it is the more interesting the result will be.


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