The Art of Home Beautification: Flower Arrangement

In this season when flowers abound, I shall speak to you about them and about the ways of arranging them, so that their appearance may please us and we may enjoy the fullest share of their beauty.

The love of flowers is instinctive in man, and this feeling is accompanied by a strong desire to arrange them, display them, and adorn homes with them, that one may delight in their beauty and their fragrance.

Hundreds of years ago the East studied the art of flower arrangement, which reached its peak in Japan; and the paintings that date back to the eighteenth century and earlier show that the West, too, took an interest in this art. Western arrangement differs greatly from the Eastern: it is distinguished by an abundance of colors, materials, and styles, while Eastern arrangements rest on definite principles. From the contact of West with East there came rules and laws that are still applied to this day in every beautiful design.

It is possible to place flowers in a vessel without any design at all. Anyone with experience can make flowers appear charming without any serious thought to their arrangement, and some persons have a special gift in the sense of form and color, so that they produce a splendid arrangement without recourse to the rules. But the ordinary person may benefit greatly from study and from following the fundamental rules and methods in order to achieve the desired result. The most important of these principles are eight. Design in flower arrangement stands as a balanced bond among all the parts — flowers, greenery, and vessel — and it must suit the room and the place set aside for it. A narrow spot between two windows suggests a slanting triangular line, while a wide expanse calls for a large arrangement; likewise a coffee table or dining table requires an arrangement that is low and equal on all sides.

In a successful design the materials are proportionate in size to one another and to the container. The proportion of the arrangement is at least one and a half times

the height of a tall vase, or approximately one and a half times the width of a low vessel. These measures are no more than guiding suggestions, for the proportion is suggested by the materials, the vessels, and the place.

Just as balance is required in every design, so it is required in the arrangement of flowers. We obtain it by placing the slender, light-colored forms, such as buds and green branches, at the edge of the design, while we place in the center the large flowers of darker color. A balanced arrangement looks beautiful from every side.

Color has a great importance in flower arrangement, since it is always present in flowers. One can exercise much artistry in the ways of using it; but a single color is more effective than variety, or than colors scattered here and there. Astonishingly beautiful results can be obtained by using the warm colors together, such as red, lemon, and yellow; a delicate, tranquil effect can be had with the cool colors, such as blue, violet, and the pale tints; and the use of different shades of the same color in a single arrangement produces a very beautiful effect. Flowers look beautiful in almost any container, but to obtain a captivating effect the vessel must suit the design, the flowers, and the greenery in shape and size. It is the suitability of the container, and not its material value, that gives the beautiful result.

1 — The texture of the flowers, their kind, and their color must be taken into consideration when selecting vases. Strong, bright flowers do not

— The Crescent —
A good design for oval-shaped vessels. Note that the center is low and contains the greater part of the flowers.

— The Semicircle —
An excellent design for vases with pedestal bases, usually used in the dining room.

— The Slanting Line —
It forms a graceful slanting design.

usually appear suitable in a slender china vessel, nor do delicate blossoms in a vessel of coarse earthenware. Every kind of flower calls for a kind of vessel: field flowers and the sturdy kinds of flowers, such as zinnias, take the heavy, unpolished containers; while delicate flowers, such as violets and lilies, take the containers of glass, alabaster, and porcelain. Glazed earthenware, wooden, and metal containers serve for all the kinds of flowers that are neither delicate nor sturdy.

A heavily ornamented vessel, and especially one decorated with flower designs, is neither suitable nor desirable, for it detracts from the beauty of the flowers themselves. But if you have a truly beautiful vessel, you can make an arrangement that completes the vessel and gives it the importance it deserves as a work of art; in this case the flowers are secondary to the container.

With sound taste and complete freedom of expression, together with practice, you can master the art of flower arrangement and produce the beautiful, original results of which every lady is proud.