Flower Arrangement

Lesson 06 :Flowers And Foliages Suitable For Flower Arrangement

Introduction

Ordering flowers is a major task for the manager of a retail florist. The manager must have considerable knowledge about the flowers: their availability, colors, keeping quality, and usual price. If the manager orders too many flowers, then his losses will be great, cutting store profits. If not enough flowers are purchased, then the designer can't readily fill orders.

Most retail florists order their flowers from wholesale florists, who have a wide variety available and make regular deliveries to retail stores. Many retail florists also buy directly from growers. These florists must know where growers are located and how the flowers may be shipped. Growers of flowers and foliage are located all over the world so this can be a big task.

Each piece of plant material used in an arrangement has dis­tinguishing characteristics. As a designer, you will need to know these characteristics and how the flowers best fit to­gether. The success of any arrangement depends upon the designer's ability to select the correct flowers and foliage.

The form of the plant material usually will determine the design or pattern of the arrangement. Because of this, con­sideration must be given to the characteristics when select­ing plant material for any given arrangement.
Plant material is classified into four groups based on form and shape.