The Power of Three

The power of three. If you've taken classes with me, you know that I always say, make sure you have three foliages for interest. But today, we're using the power of three in form, mass, line, and filler, plus the foliage. Let me show you how it's done. For designing, I'm using three of everything. Think back to flower school. Form, line, mass, and filler. The four key elements of design. So I'm going to use three of each, plus three foliages. I'm using the Oasis Renewal Foam, anchoring it into the bowl with waterproof tape. And as I do this, I think about how I'm going to work. And so as I anchor it, I'm also going to score the corners. Again, think about flower school, the things we teach you that make designing easier. To begin, starting with three different foliages, I'm going to use two different types of eucalyptus because that coloration is fabulous. So starting that in, and some beautiful Dusty Miller. I know you say, oh, can that work in foam? Yes, if you hydrate it correctly and process it, it does beautifully and holds. So beginning with radiating from that central binding point and bringing in three different foliages to start our power of three. Three foliages, now three line flowers. They have stock, this beautiful muted hue. Removing the foliage and then giving it a cut and letting it come in. Some of them a little longer so that you have variation in that placement. Then coming back, some snapdragons. Knowing that they're phototropic and geotropic, so adjusting their placement so that they can work with the light. And then Lysimachia, bringing that in. And then repeating, again, everything following the central binding point with three different line flowers. Then bringing back in the mass flowers. Carnations, you know, they just keep our world moving. And Golden Mustard Roses, bringing that in, finding the perfect spot. And lastly, just a bit of Lusianthus. Again, a mass flower that gives fullness to the design. And then repeating line and mass until it's full and luxurious. Three foliages, three line flower, and three mass flower. Now coming into the filler. We've got a bit of status, giving it that little bit of movement. You know, status comes in so many great colors now. Then a bit of wax flower, which adds fragrance as well. So we've got fragrance and impact with the filler. And then a bit of Calcinea, kind of like a heather, and it fills in and can almost mimic a line flower. But we're using it as a filler today. So we've got Calcinea, wax flower, and a bit of status to finish it off. The recipe, everything's in threes, but not three count of the flowers. So three foliages is Dusty Miller, and then two types of Eucalyptus. With that, I used maybe a quarter of a bunch of each, so not a whole lot. And then the line, I had Lysimachia, Snapdragons, and Stalk. I used five Stalk, three Snapdragons, and five Lysimachia. Then I moved on to the mass flowers, and I used the Golden Mustard Roses, used five of those. The Carnations, I used seven of those. And then the Lysianthus, I used three stems that I cut apart. Then moving on to the filler, I used Status, two stems. Wax flower, five stems. And then the beautiful Calcinea, three stems cut apart. So the power of three, but different numbers based on each item. I know, I said the power of three, and then I used multiple different counts, but keep going back to the beginning. Three each of line, mass, form, and filler. Basic floral design, technology, science, the things you need to know. You'll find more creative inspiration on the website, flowerschool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there, but now it's your turn. Find three of everything, line, mass, form, and filler, create a design, and post it on social media. Be sure to hashtag Floral Design Institute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love with threes.