4 Principles of Floral Design
introduction
Horticulture (Latin “Hortus“ garden + colere “to cultivate”) is the branch
of agriculture concerned with cultivating, or growing, garden plants. These
generally include fruits, vegetables, fl owers, and ornamental plants. Some
might say, the edibles and the ornamentals. Horticulture has two distinct
categories, fl oriculture and landscape horticulture. Both categories include
growing the plants as well as the creative and artistic aspects of design. This
textbook is devoted to the fl oriculture category.
Floriculture includes the production and marketing of fl oral crops.
Growing decorative plants, along with the designing and marketing of fl oral
arrangements, are aspects of fl oriculture. It is considered both an art and
a science. You may hear fl oriculture referred to as ornamental horticulture
because it deals with the creative and decorative aspects of horticulture.
Because fl owers and plants used in fl oriculture are often grown in
greenhouses in temperate climates, fl oriculture is called a “greenhouse
industry,” Figure 1-1. The production of cut fl owers, blooming, and tropical
foliage plants grown under glass for individual sale or use in an exterior
landscape are all aspects of fl oriculture. Whether for indoor or outdoor
application, fl oriculture crops are grown for their decorative uses.
Careers in Floriculture
The fl oriculture industry includes commercial growers, wholesalers,
and retail fl ower shops. Commercial growers produce the potted blooming
Did You Know?
Greenhouses have
been around for at least
two thousand years!
The Romans used
greenhouses to grow
cucumbers year round.
4 Principles of Floral Design
Dervin Witmer/Shutterstock.com
Figure 1-1. Greenhouses are used in the fl oriculture industry to grow annuals (plants that live
only 1 year), perennials (plants that live for multiple years), and fl owers for cutting. Flowers for
cutting may be annuals or perennials.