DIY Flower Arranging | There’s only 4 things you need to know

You know the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, the four pillars of cooking coined by one of my favorite cooks and creators, Samin Nosrat? Let me summarize. It’s the exploration of these four factors; the building blocks for good cooking. They set the foundation for truly understanding how to approach food. Become intimate with these factors, the role they play and how to turn the dial up or down, and you will learn how to cook (anything really) and why things taste the way they do.

She’s not interested in telling you what to cook. More so encouraging curiosity and awareness when particular qualities and elements commingle. Just like I’m not telling you what kind of arrangement is pretty or worth making. That is something you decide. Ultimately I think it’s personal and contingent on the ingredients available to you. 

Yet following in a similar vein, there are four pillars every floral lover must explore: texture, contrast, moisture, and space. With these principles you can begin to explore the nature of blending extremes while still finding balance. 

Begin by asking yourself some questions. How does the process and the final piece make you feel? What are the qualities and elements that exist within the plants and flowers you chose? How does the scent, light, or tone change as it opens over the course of a week? Do you end up moving it around to different places or find that you’d like to break it down into smaller bouquets as it ages? (I do this all the time)

Inevitably this kind of conversation brings us closer to the medium itself. Because I’ll be honest, arranging flowers is more than just creating a bouquet. It’s about an arising sense of joy, playing just to play, not to win or be right, and the ability to nurture a creative act. 

TEXTURE

There’s so many textural elements present it’s hard to begin. First it’s recognizing they exist. Waxy eucalyptus or anthurium, paper thin poppies, holly’s needle pointed leaves. There are delicate blossoms the size of a pea, some sparkle like the seed heads of oat grass. Delphinium and stock are emergent spikes, in contrast to the lace of Queen Anne. 

I like to think of texture as elements reflecting themselves in the plant or blossom. In this way I can blend earthy, air, fire, water, and space elements in an arrangement. The ratio of which will affect the overall composition. I share more details on this concept in Intuitive Arrangements.

CONTRAST

Contrast is a concept whereby combining seemingly opposing elements there is harmony. For example, you can have contrast between textural elements. There may be tension but it just works. A massive vessel and a delicate stem is a contrast of proportion. You can play with high or low contrasting colors or mixing large focal flowers with whimsical airy grasses.

Dissecting larger stems into smaller components or ‘cleaning’ a stem, meaning to remove the leaves, excess branches, or suckers so only the flower remains gives you the building blocks. The extent to which you clean a stem can highlight one or several aspects of the plant and provide visual and structural contrast with other ingredients in the arrangement. 

MOISTURE

Flowers need water and will drink a lot of it. Regardless of how you intend to arrange them, make sure to condition your flowers prior to working. This is a time of de-stress. Conditioning means letting them rest and acclimate as they stand, cleaned, in cold water for a few hours. 

Some stems even benefit from a hot bath. Dahlias for example, even mint, oregano or chamomile if wilted will benefit from placing the end of the stems in a vessel with boiling water. Let stand for 5 minutes and transfer to cold or let sit till the water cools. This clears the circulation channels of any air bubbles or grit so that the stem can adequately draw water up. They’ll perk back up. 

SPACE

Space is an important factor and can be shaped in a number of ways. I’ll highlight two. In any arrangement provide each blossom with space. Space to move, to open and breathe. It will give it a sense of effortlessness. This can be done by ensuring blossoms are on different visual planes and also including some negative space, or voids into your arrangement.

Also consider the type of vessel you have on hand and will use. As the foundation and shape of the vessel will also lend to the overall architecture. Some lend themselves to spacious designs where others are more compact. I also talk more about this in Intuitive Arrangements.