Flower decorations
Garlands, wreaths, carpets, arrangements and the customs of decorating with flowers. 264 decorations so far, best known first.
Arrangements and bouquetsFlowers composed in a vase, a bowl or the hand: ikebana, bouquets, centrepieces.47Garlands and wreathsFlowers strung, woven or bound into a line or a ring.18Flowers that are wornIn the hair, round the neck, on the lapel and on the head.25Carpets and floor patternsPetals laid on the ground: pookalam, infiorata, flower carpets.19Parades, floats and big displaysFlower parades, floats, floral clocks, shows and installations.60Offerings and ritesFlowers given to gods, guests and the dead.44Flower craftsPressed, dried, preserved, distilled and made by hand.52Flowers in art and designPainted, woven, carved and printed flowers, and what they stand for.72Garden stylesWays of laying out a garden, from the charbagh to the cottage border.34Customs, festivals and the tradeFlower festivals, the language of flowers, markets and the flower trade.186
Decoration
Sōgetsu草月流
A modern school of Japanese ikebana open to all materials and styles
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Nageirebana抛入花
A free-form ikebana style using tall vases and no flower holders
Arrangement
Decoration
Bonsai盆栽
The Japanese art of shaping miniature trees in shallow pots
🇯🇵 Japan and 7 more · Art or design
Decoration
Tokonoma床の間
A Japanese alcove for displaying scrolls and flower arrangements
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Rangoliरंगोली
Indian floor art made with coloured powders, rice, or petals for festivals and daily welcome
🇮🇳 India and 1 more · Carpet or floor pattern
Decoration
Ashtamangalaअष्टमङ्गल
A sacred set of eight auspicious symbols in Indian religions
🇮🇳 India and 1 more · Art or design
Decoration
Paisleyبته
A curved teardrop motif from Iran and India, now used worldwide on textiles
🇮🇷 Iran and 8 more · Art or design
Decoration
Butaبوته
A curved floral motif found in Persian, Indian, and Central Asian art and textiles
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 more · Art or design
Decoration
Flower power
A 1960s protest style using flowers as symbols of peace and resistance
🇺🇸 United States · Custom
Decoration
Cake decorating
The craft of adorning cakes with icing, fondant, and edible decorations
🇺🇸 United States · Art or design
Decoration
Sugar sculpture
Artistic centerpieces and figures made entirely from cooked sugar
🇨🇳 China and 1 more · Flower craft
Decoration
Quilling
Decorative art made by rolling and shaping strips of paper
🇺🇸 United States and 1 more · Flower craft
Decoration
Shellcraft
Decorative art made by arranging and using seashells
🇦🇺 Australia and 1 more · Flower craft
Decoration
Arabesque
A rhythmic pattern of scrolling foliage and lines in Islamic and European art
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 more · Art or design
Decoration
Heraldic rose
A stylized five-petaled rose used as a symbol in coats of arms and badges
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 more · Art or design
Decoration
Palmette
A fan-shaped floral motif from ancient Egypt and Greece, used in art and architecture
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 more · Art or design
Decoration
carpet bedding
Giant plant sculptures made from thousands of bedding plants on steel frames
🇨🇦 Canada · Carpet or floor pattern
Decoration
Hortus Eystettensis
A 1613 botanical book showing over 1,000 garden plants from a Bavarian palace
🇩🇪 Germany · Art or design
Decoration
Company styleकम्पनी कलम
Indian miniature paintings for colonial patrons, blending Mughal and Western styles
🇮🇳 India · Art or design
Decoration
Famille rose粉彩
Pink-enamel style of Chinese porcelain decoration
🇨🇳 China and 1 more · Art or design
Decoration
Ikebana華道
The Japanese art of arranging flowers with form and meaning
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Chintzछींट
Indian floral-printed cotton fabric with a glossy or painted finish
🇮🇳 India and 2 more · Art or design
Decoration
Ohara-ryū小原流
A Japanese school of ikebana known for its moribana and landscape styles
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Flora Danica
A botanical atlas that inspired a famous porcelain dinner set
🇳🇴 Norway and 3 more · Art or design
Decoration
Pichhwai
Large painted cloths showing Krishna, hung in temples for worship and festivals
🇮🇳 India · Art or design
Decoration
Rikka立花
A formal Japanese ikebana style with upright, symbolic floral arrangements
Arrangement
Decoration
Moribana盛り花
A Japanese ikebana style using shallow containers and natural shapes
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Seika生花
A classical Japanese ikebana style with triangular lines and seasonal flowers
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Banmi Shofu-ryū晩美生風流
A modern school of Japanese Ikebana known for its use of driftwood
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 more · Arrangement
Decoration
Ikenobō池坊
Japan’s oldest and most influential school of ikebana flower arranging
🇯🇵 Japan · Arrangement
Decoration
Hanakotoba花言葉
The Japanese language of flowers and their meanings
🇯🇵 Japan · Custom
Decoration
Oshibana押し花
The craft of making pictures from pressed flowers and leaves
🇯🇵 Japan · Flower craft
Decoration
Penjing盆景
The Chinese art of shaping miniature trees and landscapes in trays
🇨🇳 China · Art or design
Decoration
Hòn non bộ𡉕𡽫部
Vietnamese miniature landscapes of mountains and islands in trays or basins
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Arrangement
Decoration
Imperial crest of Japan菊紋
The 16-petal chrysanthemum emblem of the Japanese emperor and imperial family
🇯🇵 Japan · Art or design
Decoration
Hanafuda花札
Japanese playing cards with flower designs used for traditional games
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 more · Art or design
Decoration
History of flower arrangement
How arranging flowers became an art across cultures and centuries
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 more · Arrangement
Decoration
Korean flower arrangement
Arranging Korean flowers and branches in simple ceramic vessels
Arrangement
Decoration
Festoon
A hanging garland or carved ornament of flowers, foliage, or fruit
Garland or wreath
Decoration
Rosette
A round, stylized flower motif used in art and decoration
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 more · Art or design
Decoration
Sugar paste
A sweet, moldable icing for cake decorations and edible flowers
Flower craft
Decoration
Bonkei盆景
Miniature Japanese landscapes built in trays from dry materials
🇯🇵 Japan · Art or design
Decoration
Japanese garden日本庭園
A traditional garden style shaped by nature, philosophy and seasonal change
🇯🇵 Japan · Garden style
Decoration
Kolamகோலம்
South Indian geometric floor art made with rice flour or powder at home entrances
🇮🇳 India and 5 more · Carpet or floor pattern
Decoration
Alpanaআলপনা
Bengali ritual floor art painted with rice flour on festive and religious occasions
🇮🇳 India and 1 more · Carpet or floor pattern
Decoration
Mandana painting
Traditional wall and floor art from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
🇮🇳 India and 1 more · Carpet or floor pattern
Decoration
Jhoti chitaଝୋଟି ଚିତା
White rice paste patterns drawn on walls and floors in Odisha for festivals
🇮🇳 India · Carpet or floor pattern
Decoration
Chowk poorana
Folk floor and wall art made with flour, clay and rice in northern India
🇮🇳 India · Carpet or floor pattern
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sōgetsu: Paul Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Nageirebana: GustavoReinoso7777, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bonsai: Ragesoss, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tokonoma: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Ashtamangala: Redtigerxyz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Paisley: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Buta: Thomas Watier, Public domain, source
- Flower power: Mathias Degen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Sugar sculpture: kirstenjolanda, CC BY 2.0, source
- Cake decorating: Michael Prudhomme, CakesMadeEasy.com, CC BY 2.5, source
- Quilling: Inna Dorman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shellcraft: Verne Equinox, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Arabesque: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
- Heraldic rose: Gliwi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palmette: Lameiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- carpet bedding: Jiaqian AirplaneFan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Hortus Eystettensis: Wolfgang Kilian, Public domain, source
- Company style: thesandiegomuseumofartcollection, Public domain, source
- Famille rose: Anonymous ( Qing dynasty ) Unknown author and Anonymous ( France ) Unk, CC0, source
- Ikebana: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chintz: Karun Thakar Collection photo. Work by unknown Coromandel artisans. Ph, Public domain, source
- Ohara-ryū: Gryffindor, CC0, source
- Flora Danica: Edelseider, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pichhwai: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Rikka: Gryffindor, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Moribana: Gryffindor, CC0, source
- Seika: Gryffindor, CC0, source
- Banmi Shofu-ryū: GustavoReinoso7777, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ikenobō: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanakotoba: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Oshibana: Pmlydon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Penjing: Peggy Greb, USDA, Public domain, source
- Hòn non bộ: Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Imperial crest of Japan: Ogiyoshisan, Public domain, source
- Hanafuda: Marcus Richert, CC BY 2.0, source
- History of flower arrangement: Otto Scholderer, Public domain, source
- Festoon: Lionel Allorge, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosette: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sugar paste: Pirum, Public domain, source
- Bonkei: Utagawa Hiroshige, Public domain, source
- Japanese garden: 663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Alpana: Tripan123, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mandana painting: Anchal.agarwal91, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jhoti chita: ଜଗଦୀଶ ଉତ୍ତରକବାଟ, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chowk poorana: Gurlal Maan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source