Floral Design
Floral Enthusiast
Floral design is a rewarding and fun way to be creative with flowers and accessories. Programs within this category are typically just a few hours in duration. They offer educational information and often, hands-on practice creating a floral arrangement. Floral Enthusiast workshops are available throughout the year at the MSU Coastal Research and Extension Center. Register for Floral Enthusiast classes.
The following county agents have completed Master Floral Designer training and are qualified to offer Floral Enthusiast classes.
- Boone, Tracy; Carroll County
- Breland, Brent, Pike County
- Creekmore, Warner; Lee County
- Phillipson, Christina; Smith County
Master Floral Designer
The Master Floral Designer (MFD) program teaches all the basics of floral design, including proper care and use of fresh flowers, dried flowers and numerous mechanics and accessories. Discover and understand what makes a floral design beautiful!
We maximize your learning of design principles and elements, basic floral designs, and care and handling information. The MFD Program is created for beginners as well as those who what to learn more and improve their flower arranging. Register for Master Floral Designer classes.
Master Floral Designers gain knowledge, skill, and confidence in arranging fresh flowers by learning how to build the foundations of beautiful and stable floral arrangements. The MFD Program is open to beginners as well as those who have some experience designing with fresh flowers. The program is led by Dr. Jim DelPrince who has been on faculty at Mississippi State, one of the country’s leading floral management programs, since 1996. He is a Laureate Member of the American Institute of Floral Designers and was granted the AIFD Service to the Floral Industry award in 2016. He developed the Master Floral Designer program in 2017, the first of its kind in the US.
MFD consists of three phases; participants follow the program in numerical order. Some may elect to complete Phases I and II, finding that these fulfill their educational needs. We encourage participants to complete all three Phases to earn the certificate from MSU Extension. Participants do not need to be Mississippi residents. We welcome learners from throughout the world.
Phase I consists of an online course developed and delivered by Dr. DelPrince and produced jointly by MSU Agricultural Communications and the MSU Television Center. Using three tv cameras and months of filming and editing, this lively class is literally a television show where you learn best practices and research-based information on floral care and handling, design principles (balance, proportion, rhythm, scale, unity, dominance, harmony), design elements (color, pattern, form, texture, space, line, fragrance, light), and numerous mechanics and accessories.
Participants begin Phase I with a pre-test to measure what they know, then close the 14-week course with a post-test to measure what they learned. Our statistics confirm a significant increase in test scores after completing the course, emphasizing our program’s educational value. Brief, enjoyable homework assignments allow participants to delve deeply into topics such as flower and foliage combinations and understanding the materials that aid in floral longevity.
The textbook Principles of Floral Design (3rd Edition) by Pat Scace (Missouri Botanical Garden) and James DelPrince, used in many floral design courses in high schools and colleges in the US and Canada, is required. The book, with over 600 pages of images and text, is filled with design ideas and clear explanations of techniques in floral care and handling, along with design principles and how to work effectively with design elements. It also has links to flashcards, exercises, and games that aid you to learn cut flowers, design principles, and more.
There are brief, end-of-unit quizzes that help you to gain comprehension. There are no grades in MFD, but the course helps you to make sure you are learning important concepts.
If you desire, you can follow along with the Phase I video demonstrations to create your own floral designs, but this is not required. Phase I is offered three times per year; during the fall (August-November), spring (January-April), and summer (May-August) semesters; take your pick! All students evaluate the course and teaching at the end of the semester. MSU Extension cares about our learners and works diligently to improve our programs based upon learner needs. Upon Phase I completion, you will be fully ready for the next step!
Phase II You can register for Phase II upon successful completion of Phase I. This course puts what you’ve learned into practice, creating a wide array of foundational floral designs. It is available as an in person or online class. Choose which is best for you.
The in-person version meets four consecutive days with classes scheduled every semester. The online class’s duration is for the entire semester. It has scheduled floral design project due dates for review and critiques.
In both versions, each participant will learn how to make a bow, corsages, a handtied bouquet, symmetrical and asymmetrical designs, topiary, and more using a variety of mechanics.
Phase III provides the opportunity to share what you learned, completing 40 hours of Extension volunteering, and putting what you learned into action. This service component can involve different, non-profit activities that promote the benefits of floral design. For example, some previous projects include teaching others how to create a floral design, floral design for places of worship, promotion of the MFD program, designing for community spaces, and many others. Successful completion of 40 approved volunteer hours is necessary to achieve the Master Floral Designer certificate. Annual reports are due at the end of each calendar year. After attaining the certificate, Master Floral Designers are encouraged to keep an active status by conducting and reporting 20 hours per year of education and/or volunteering. For those seeking deeper knowledge and skill, Master Floral Designers are eligible to enroll in the Advanced Master Floral Designer program.
The Advanced Master Floral Designer program is also organized into three phases. The significant difference is that the theories, practice, and final projects invite deeper introspection.
Phase I begins with a review of the MFD Phase I course refresher which includes care and handling information, design principles, design elements, and foundational floral design demonstrations. As students progress in Advanced MFD Phase I, they will take a historical and geographical approach, exploring American, Asian, and European styles of floral design, looking deeper into the line-mass continuum.
Phase II involves several advanced projects including Ikebana and European theory. Students will have the opportunity to see that floral design can be art, and that there is more to this endeavor than merely dropping flowers into a vase.
Phase III is the development and creation of a specialized project with impact, not just beautiful designs. In the project, students find an answer to a question or a problem.
Ready to take the next step and commit to a certificate program in floral design? Register for Master Floral Designer classes.
Professional Florist
This program is designed for those who arrange and sell flowers for a profit. If you are engaged in the floral business—or aspire to be—these classes are for you. Register for Professional Florist classes.
Read more about Professional Florist
Farmer/Grower/Producer
Never grow a flower for commercial sale until you are sure where it will sell! Mississippi is a verdant state, ripe for the production of cut ornamental foliage and flowers, and demand for them is high. MSU Extension floral programs highlight the features and benefits of Mississippi-grown flowers and greenery, offering programs that pull these products through the marketplace. For more information, contact Dr. Jim DelPrince (j.delprince@msstate.edu).