90 Fun Facts About Flower Arranging

How many principles of design are floral arrangements said to incorporate?

They sit alongside five elements of design.

In floral design, what is the term for the first thing that attracts the viewer's eye?

Rhythm, balance and scale are among the other principles.

Which ancient people were among the first to place lotus flowers and buds in vases, some 4,000 years ago?

Lotus and papyrus were sacred to the goddess Isis.

Ikebana's three main line placements correspond to heaven, earth and what?

The painter Sōami is credited with the idea.

The oldest known book on flower arranging is from which country and year?

Ikebana has influenced Western arranging since the late 19th century.

What is the alternative name for ikebana, meaning 'way of flowers'?

Chadō is the tea ceremony and kōdō incense appreciation.

Ikebana is one of Japan's three classical arts of refinement, with tea ceremony and what?

Kōdō is the incense art.

In a traditional Japanese home, ikebana arrangements were placed in which alcove?

Scroll pictures were also displayed there.

Which shōgun, patron of tea ceremony and ikebana, abdicated to devote himself to the arts?

He was the eighth Ashikaga shōgun.

Which is the oldest and largest school of ikebana?

It is based at the Rokkaku-dō temple in Kyoto.

The oldest school of ikebana is based at which Kyoto temple?

The name Rokkaku refers to the temple's hexagonal shape.

The name of ikebana's oldest school combines the word for a pond with the word for what?

Prince Shōtoku bathed in the pond while seeking a temple site.

What does the ikebana term rikka mean?

It grew from Buddhist offerings placed upright in vases.

In rikka arrangements, what do pine branches symbolise?

Yellow chrysanthemums symbolise life.

Nageire, an informal ikebana style, takes its name from a word meaning what?

Legend says a bored samurai threw plants into a tall vase.

Which ikebana founder introduced the moribana style around 1890?

It reflected Western influence after the Meiji Restoration.

What kind of container does a proper moribana design use?

The suiban lets materials spread sideways.

The kenzan, or pin frog, literally means what in Japanese?

It is a heavy plate, usually lead, with brass needles.

Which ikebana school was founded by Sōfū Teshigahara in 1927?

His credo: it can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime with any material.

Sōfū Teshigahara's daughter was succeeded as Sōgetsu head by her brother Hiroshi, better known as what?

Hiroshi Teshigahara directed Woman in the Dunes.

The Ohara school was the first to award ikebana teaching certificates to whom?

Founder's son Koun also moved from individual lessons to group classes.

What is the practical purpose of floral foam?

It is non-biodegradable and toxic to humans and animals.

Which guild ran the Paris flower trade from 1677 to 1791?

They sold their flowers as street vendors.

Flower auctions use which pricing system?

Prices start high and fall until a buyer stops the clock.

The world's largest flower auction is in which Dutch town?

Its building is the largest in Europe by floor area.

The world's biggest flower auction hall ranks where among all buildings by floor area?

It covers about 999,000 square metres.

London's Columbia Road Flower Market opens on which day only?

Angela Burdett-Coutts founded Columbia Market in 1869.

FTD was founded in 1910 as Florists' Telegraph Delivery in which city?

Thirteen florists met at the Seneca Hotel.

FTD's Mercury Man logo, adopted in 1914, is based on a sculpture by whom?

Mercury symbolises speed of delivery.

In what year did the UK arm of FTD change its name to Interflora?

Its slogan 'Say it with Flowers' followed.

Who acquired the 1-800-Flowers phone number and business in 1986?

He had owned New York flower shops since 1976.

Constance Spry was commissioned in 1953 to arrange the flowers for which event?

She dressed Westminster Abbey and the processional route from Buckingham Palace.

What was the name of the shop Constance Spry opened in 1929?

She published a book of the same name.

Constance Spry caused a sensation with hedgerow flowers in the windows of which Bond Street perfumery?

Theatrical designer Norman Wilkinson led the decoration.

Which unusual plant material did Constance Spry popularise as a foil for flowers?

She also used pussy willow, weeds and grasses.

Who designed the bouquet for Sarah Ferguson's 1986 wedding to Prince Andrew?

She founded her floristry business in 1982.

Florist Paula Pryke was appointed OBE in 2014 for services to what?

She founded Paula Pryke Flowers in Islington.

Celebrity florist Jeff Leatham became creative director of which Paris hotel in 1999?

Leatham joined the Four Seasons Hotel George V in 1999. He was born and raised in Ogden, Utah.

Who designed Catherine Middleton's shield-shaped bouquet for her 2011 wedding?

It contained myrtle, lily of the valley, sweet William, ivy and hyacinth.

Which flower in Meghan Markle's 2018 bouquet was handpicked by Prince Harry in honour of his mother?

Philippa Craddock designed the bouquet.

Where was Meghan Markle's bridal bouquet placed after the wedding, following royal tradition?

The tradition began with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Royal bridal bouquets since Meghan's have included sprigs of myrtle grown from which plant?

Myrtle is a traditional symbol of love and marriage.

Queen Victoria wore a wreath of what instead of a tiara at her 1840 wedding?

Orange blossom was a symbol of fertility.

Bridal bouquets have been known since the Renaissance; what practical purpose did they originally serve?

Strongly scented flowers were used.

Traditionally, who holds the bride's bouquet during the wedding ceremony?

Afterwards the bride tosses it over her shoulder.

At a wedding, what is the masculine equivalent of the bouquet toss?

The bouquet goes to the single women, the garter to the single men.

Besides weddings, bouquets are used extensively at what?

They are also given for birthdays, anniversaries and funerals.

The word 'nosegay' arose in the 15th century combining 'nose' with 'gay', which then meant what?

A nosegay is also called a posy or tussie-mussie.

Victorians exchanged small 'talking bouquets' known by what name?

They were worn or carried as a fashion accessory.

What is the technical term for the language of flowers?

Some form of it has been practised across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Under which pen name did Louise Cortambert write the first flower-language dictionary in 1819?

Joseph Hammer-Purgstall's 1809 dictionary was an earlier list.

In the language of flowers, yellow roses stand for what?

White roses suggest virtue and chastity.

Which Shakespeare character hands out pansies, rosemary, fennel, columbine, rue and daisy?

It happens in Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5.

The renewed Victorian interest in the language of flowers is traced to the tulip obsession of which court?

The Turkish sélam wrapped objects in a handkerchief as a coded message.

The word 'corsage' comes from the French bouquet de corsage, corsage meaning what?

In the early 19th century they were courting gifts at formal dances.

On which lapel is a boutonnière traditionally worn?

That is the same side as a pocket handkerchief.

Which flower, most formal in white, is the classic choice for a boutonnière?

Its calyx should sit fully inside the buttonhole.

The word 'wreath' derives from Old English writha, meaning what?

Wreaths were worn as crowns by Etruscan rulers.

In myth, Apollo began wearing a laurel wreath after which nymph turned into a laurel tree?

Laurel wreaths came to symbolise victory in Greece and Rome.

Which Lutheran priest created the modern Advent wreath in 1839 from a cart wheel?

He used it to help children count down to Christmas.

How many candles does a traditional Advent wreath carry, excluding any central white one?

One more is lit on each Sunday of Advent.

The word 'garland' comes via French from the Italian ghirlanda, meaning what?

A daisy chain is one kind of garland.

Hawaii's Lei Day is celebrated on which date?

Poet Don Blanding conceived it in 1927.

Who coined the phrase 'May Day is Lei Day'?

Blanding was working at the Honolulu Star Bulletin at the time.

Which lei ingredient is said to be connected with love, desire and change?

The composition of a lei often determines its significance.

The RHS's great May show has been held since 1913 in the grounds of which institution?

It was formerly the RHS Great Spring Show, first held in 1862.

The Chelsea Flower Show is held over how many days in May?

Members of the royal family attend a preview.

Which US city hosts the world's oldest and largest indoor flower show?

It draws more than 250,000 people each year.

The first of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's flower shows, in 1829, was held where?

It was a one-day exhibition of fruit, flowers and plants.

Which group first staged Pasadena's Rose Parade in 1890?

It runs along Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Day.

The Netherlands' flower and fruit parade culture was inscribed by UNESCO in which year?

Bloemencorso parades include Zundert and the Bollenstreek.

Keukenhof, the Dutch bulb garden, was established in which year by growers to showcase their products?

It is in the municipality of Lisse.

What does the name Keukenhof literally mean?

It is also called the Garden of Europe.

The Japanese custom of hanami almost always means viewing which blossom?

Plum viewing is more narrowly called umemi.

The Japanese pressed-flower art form oshibana is traced to which century?

Samurai were said to practise it to promote patience and concentration.

What is a kokedama?

It combines nearai bonsai and kusamono planting styles.

Who created the first terrarium, in 1842?

It was known as the Wardian case.

The word potpourri comes from a French name for what Spanish dish?

The literal sense is 'rotten pot'.

The world's first floral clock was planted in 1903 in which city?

Parks superintendent John McHattie had the idea for West Princes Street Gardens.

Poinsettias are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, who held what post?

There are efforts to revert to the Nahuatl name cuetlaxōchitl.

Which state adopted a red flower as its state flower in honour of the assassinated William McKinley?

McKinley was killed in 1901.

Which species is the baby's-breath most used as bouquet filler?

Turkey has about 35 endemic Gypsophila species.

Lilium longiflorum is forced to flower out of season for which market?

True lilies are highly toxic to cats.

In France, lily of the valley is traditionally sold tax-free on which day?

The day is called La Fête du Muguet.

Many hydrangeas produce blue flowers in what kind of soil?

Alkaline soil turns them pink.

The imperial crest of Japan is which flower?

The monarchy is called the Chrysanthemum Throne.

The dried seed pods of which orchid genus are commercially important as a flavouring?

Kew holds an orchid festival every February.

The Dutch tulip mania investment bubble ran over which years?

Tulips had been cultivated in Constantinople as early as 1055.

The heraldic fleur-de-lis is a stylised form of which flower?

It appears on flags of Quebec and the old arms of France.

Which celebrated painter, a friend of shōgun Yoshimasa, conceived the heaven-humans-earth idea in ikebana?

Ikebana texts published from the Ken'ei to the Genroku eras were all founded on his three-element idea, and it survives in the seika style's ten, chi and jin.