The four-role rule

Every arrangement that looks 'right' has, in some balance, four roles. Once you can name them, you can build anything.

FOCAL flowers are the eye-catchers — the big, the rare, the deeply coloured. Dahlias, peonies, roses, sunflowers, lilies, hydrangeas. They lead the composition. Use few — three to five focal stems in a typical jug.

FILLER softens the spaces between focal flowers and stops the arrangement looking like a bouquet of trophies. Cosmos, scabious, ammi, Queen Anne's lace, smaller dahlias, nigella. Use many — 5–10 stems.

LINE flowers give vertical drama and movement. Foxgloves, larkspur, snapdragon, gladioli, bells of Ireland, branches of blossom. They lift the eye out of the bowl. Use 1–3 long stems.

ACCENT (also called 'texture') is the wild card — seedheads, grasses, herbs, berries, weeds. Nigella pods, fennel flower, oregano, bupleurum, oats, blackberry stems. They make an arrangement feel found rather than bought. Use 3–7 stems.