The Three Styles Of Floristry

In the art of floristry, there are 3 different styles that florists employ in their work. Across the world, the high style is considered as the basic of all floral design styles used by professional florists. High Style is a term used to describe the usually, contemporary, or linear designs that usually highlights the unique forms of both individual floral materials and of the designs themselves. However, according to several philippine florists, this style of arrangement would usually feature negative space and incorporate asymmetric placement of materials, which is direct contrast to traditional radial arrangements such as English Garden.

English Garden, on the other hand, is a style which was traditionally an English form of floral design. The different of English Garden style from the High Style is its arrangements. Stems are placed in a radial fashion and feature abundant use of seasonal flowers and foliages. These designs are often done as low, tufted mounds, or taller vase arrangements that are all-sided (360°), and incorporate garden flowers like roses, delphinium and peonies. According to professional philippine florists, those that follow this style do not use Baby's Breath, Carnations and Leatherleaf.

But among all others, there is one style of floristry which is commonly associated with well being as well as with its spiritual aspect. This style is the Ikebana floral design. More than simply putting flowers in a container, or like the High Style, ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. This particular style is one of the oldest traditions of Japanese culture.

Contrary to the idea of floral arrangement as a collection of particolored or multicolored arrangement of blooms, the ikebana style often emphasizes other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves, and draws emphasis towards shape, line, form. Though ikebana is a creative expression, it has certain rules governing its form. According to several philippine florists that learned the art of ikebana, the main rule pertaining to its use is that all the elements used in construction must be organic, be they branches, leaves, grasses, or flowers.

The spiritual aspect of Ikebana is considered very important to its practitioners. This is the reason why, for some Japanese, the use of ikebana is merely for self enjoyment or entertainment rather than for business which are usually associated with other styles of floristry.