Flowers: Creating a Line-Mass Arrangement

This delightful style blends the elegance of strong lines with the traditional shapes of mass flowers

The combination of line and mass arrangements can be a little tricky, but with a little practice can be achieved. Plus, it's fun to use the variety of flowers and greenery to create interesting shapes and centerpieces.

As its name implies, the line-mass arrangement utilizes both forms: the hearty branches and stems share space with mass and filler flowers and greenery.

The mass flowers will either anchor the line arrangement or join it together at the midpoint or other junction. The blending means that the line branches will filter into mass and some of the filler and mass flowers will mingle with the line shapes. Any shape of container can be used, but simple and refined is the best choice in style.

Before you start, however, you must decide which style will dominate; they cannot receive equal attention. If the mass flowers are more colorful and will take center state, then it becomes a massed-line arrangement.

Avoid too many flower types or colors as a line-mass can easily become too busy. These are best viewed from the front and usually are asymmetrical. Placement in the container is the same as a line arrangement: the frog is situated toward the back of the bowl for viewing depth.

Begin with the line shapes; use up to three branches of the same style for a basic line-mass arrangement. The tallest can be placed at the right of center with the consecutively shorter lines aligned to one side. Now, place some very short branches of the same material horizontally fanned out from the base to begin coverage of the container.

Use an odd number of mass flowers of varying lengths. Begin with the tallest and allow it to face upward. Then begin arranging the remainder in a flowing pattern downward into the bowl. You can continue filling in with greenery - just enough to hide the frog or floral foam.

The shape of a line-mass arrangement can be vertical, horizontal, or curved. As with other types of flower arrangements, you can't really mess it up. If it appeals to you and brings praise from your guests, that is all that matters.