Types of Floral Design Styles | Flower Arrangement Styles (2024)

Growing your own flowers is so satisfying...and can be such hard work! So much effort goes into selecting the varieties, nurturing their growth, and harvesting them at the right time -- you have a big investment of your time, energy, and money. In this video Leanne Kesler AIFD shares some simple steps to take to ensure you get the longest vase life possible from your beautiful crops, and the most enjoyment.

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One of the hottest trends in floral design is the Bespoke Garden Style. While new to many, this style was very popular from the mid-nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. Before the advent of floral foam, chickenwire or floral netting was used as an armature in creating these designs. In this video Leanne demonstrates the techniques for creating a bespoke styled bridal bouquet with a chickenwire armature. Enjoy!

The Bespoke Garden Style is trending strong and the Hand-Tied Bouquet is one of the most popular designs in this style. In this video clip Leanne explains the different styles of flowers and foliages that make up a successful hand-tied bouquet as she creates a dramatic bouquet with a couple of surprising techniques. Enjoy!

The classic compote design is perfectly suited for the bespoke garden design style. In this video clip Leanne creates a beautiful arrangement of late summer flowers using a base of floral foam in a copper compote. You will enjoy her masterful instruction on product placement, balance and color harmony. Enjoy!

Creating an arrangement with fragile garden blossoms requires special mechanics. In this video clip Leanne demonstrates the the Bespoke Garden Stye of design using the armature technique. You will love this beautiful “return to the past” style of design. Enjoy!

The Botanical Style of floral design is a late 20th century American design concept. The style must feature at least three parts of the plant material. This could be stems, leaves, buds, blossoms, roots, seeds, and bulbs. The style was originally introduced as an exhibition category by the National Garden Clubs Inc.

The Crescent Style Corsage is also known as a Line Corsage. This classic style involves the hand-wiring and taping of flowers, foliages and materials into a lightweight corsage that can be manipulated into a line or a crescent shape. Although this style is labor intensive and requires good technical skills, the corsage is very elegant.

A small cluster of flowers, designed as a tiny bouquet. The Nosegay dates from the 14th century. The original Nosegays were carried by women of wealth and were used to ward off the foul odors of the street, hence the name. The Nosegay is similar to the Tussie Mussie.

Pot et Fleur is an assemblage of two or more growing plants in one container in combination with an arrangement of cut flowers

The inverted-T is a geometric design style. The design is a symmetrically balanced three sided composition having the form of an upside-down “T”, with a dominant vertical line of materials intersecting the horizontal plane at the focal area.

A composition utilizing parallel stem placement in which groupings of stems are placed in the same direction as each other. Negative space exists between the groups. There are no components having a radial placement although there may be some basing involved with slight radial placement.

The classic Della Robbia Style is a composition characterized by the dominate use of fruit in wreath, swag and garland designs. Materials include foliage, flowers and fruit with or without ribbon lacing which all appear to be bound to the center of the design. The style is named for Luco della Robbia, 1399-1482 who created glazed terra-cotta reliefs of garlands of fruits and flowers.

Western Line style blends classic mass and the linearity of Asian design; triangular in form with symmetry or asymmetry determined by three point placement. The style is characterized by a well established focal area near the lip of the container and all stems appear to radiate from this base.

The Hedgerow style is an abstractionist interpretation of a herbaceous garden border or hedge. The design is a closed form utilizing parallel insertions to create uniform rows of materials. Dried materials are often used and decorative banding around the entire form is often used to control the form.

Mille de Fleur, “One Thousand Flowers” has its inspiration in the decorative arts of the 15th and 16th centuries. The form is round and symmetrical with radial insertions. It is a closed form although not as dense as the Biedermeier style. The design features many multi-colored blossoms without a single variety or hue dominance. The design may be all-around or three sided.

The Biedermeier style was created in Germany during the first half of the 1800’s during a period of relative prosperity and the rise of the middle class. A Biedermeier styled floral design is generally round or conical in form with concentric pattering using circles or spirals. Radial insertions are used. The design is without negative space with the face of the flowers emphasized. Colors typically range from bright hues to wood tones.

Also referred to as “high style” the Formal Linear design style is a composition of a relatively few, well organized materials, usually placed in groups with emphasis on bold forms and clean lines. Negative space accentuates the individual flowers and leaves. Line is the primary element in this design. Radial stem placement and asymmetrical balance is typical.