Designing an Autumn Floral Centerpiece

Hello everyone! In this bolgpost I will be sharing some of the techniques I use when designing at The Flower Shoppe, Ltd. I'm going to be using some local plant materials native to South Jersey, and mix them with a few fresh flowers.


In this design I'll mainly be using a technique called grouping. As the name indicates it means to 'group' similar flowers together to give them more visual impact. Ok let's get started!

We are going to be using 1/3 brick of floral foam inserted into a small plastic container:


Next we are going to add three sunflowers and some oak leaves being sure to group them together and keeping them tight and close to the base:


It is common practice for Florists (and you should always do this) to cut each stem on an angle, this allows the stem to easily pierce the foam and creates the largest possible cut surface on the stem for maximum water absorption. And then we add the 'grouped' Thistle:


Next we add some Phragmites:


Now the Phragmites and the Brown Millet looking material will create a line straight across the design, giving the arrangement a longer side and a shorter side. So we move on to adding the Brown Millet:





Next we add a Green Leucadendron:


I finished it off with some ferns:




The finished design:



You want the design to look natural and grouping creates that effect because flowers grow that way naturally. This design makes a great natural centerpiece for your table and incorporates local plants which creates a sense of place. So wherever you live go outside for a walk, pick some interesting flowers and plants, then stop by your local florist for some sunflowers and try this design out. Then post a pic of your results on our Facebook page so I can see your results. Happy designing!