People have used flowers to express their feelings, enhance their surroundings, and to commemorate important rituals and observances throughout history. The knowledge of how our ancestors used flowers comes to us in numerous ways. All forms of art, depict the use of flowers: music, books, paintings, sculpture, ceramics and tapestries are only examples of some of the sources of information regarding the use of flowers in past times. Some of the most opulent examples of source material for us are the flower pictures produced by artists during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which so accurately dipict flowers in their incredible beauty.

As we know them today, flower arrangements represent an amalgamation of two styles: the 'European and New World Style' and the 'Oriental' style. The European style arrangements from which we borrowed were filled with large numbers of flowers rich in various colors, and are referred to as 'Mass Arrangements'. In contrast, the Oriental styles emphasized simplicity, containing few flowers and conservative colors, and, as they emphasized lines instead of masses, are known as 'Line Arrangements'.