Step-by-Step Floral Arrangement

Choosing Flowers

• The California Cut Flower Commission suggests using three distinct types of flowers to create an eye-catching arrangement: line flowers, mass flowers and filler flowers. Line flowers provide the tallest point of your arrangement---these blooms are long and thin, like gladioli. Other natural elements can be used in place of line flowers. Some to consider are eucalyptus stems, wheat stalks or blossoming branches trimmed from an almond or cherry tree.
  Mass flowers give your arrangement its color. Pick bold, bright blooms with large faces: pansies, roses, daisies or peonies work well. Keep these shorter than your line flowers; if you use long-stemmed blooms like tulips, you may need to cut the stems so they're only about three-quarters as tall as your tallest flower. Don't be afraid to play with color. It's OK to mix shades, and it's OK to use several flower varieties (cream tulips and red carnations, for example).

  Filler flowers, the last component, tie the whole arrangement together. You're looking for contrast and texture---the height should be between your tallest and shortest flowers, and you want blossoms that contrast with the shape of your other flowers. If you've gathered snapdragons as your line flowers and mums as your mass flowers, for example, a good filler flower would be feverfew or Queen Anne's lace. The small size of the blooms makes a good contrast with the thick stalks of snapdragon and the large face size of the mums. Ferns and heather are other popular filler flowers.

Putting It Together

• Choose a vase that's half to three-quarters as tall as your tallest flower. If you don't have a traditional vase, there are plenty of household items you can use in its place. Try a glass milk jug, teapot or metal watering can. Good Housekeeping recommends stripping your flowers of leaves, shoots or thorns that lie below the water level of your vase; these can become staging grounds for bacteria that will harm your flowers. When your flowers are trimmed and the vase is half full of lukewarm water, you're ready to begin arranging.

  Place your line flowers in the center of your vase. These tall blooms are a visual anchor; their job is to draw a viewer's eye to the arrangement. Surround them with your mass flowers, taking care to blend colors throughout. Lastly, fill in any spaces with your filler flowers. Make sure the filler flowers are spaced evenly throughout the arrangement; don't cluster them, or your arrangement could look lopsided. When you're finished, stand back and make sure you can see every type and color of flower from every angle. Rearrange any individual stems as needed, and enjoy!