What is a Flower Basket?

A flower basket is an arrangement or bouquet of flowers, which is presented in a decorative basket that is usually made of straw or wood. Flower baskets can feature any variety or assortment of flowers and other plants. They are typically given as gifts for Mother's Day, Easter and Valentine's Day.

The concept of the flower basket is part of a larger art called floral design or floristry which is the art of using flowers and other plant materials to create an aesthetically pleasing arrangement that balances color and shape. The earliest known examples of floral design can be found in the culture of the Ancient Egyptians (approximately 2,800 B.C.E), who used floral arrangments for temple offerings and banquet table decorations.  The Ancient Greeks and Romans then utilized floral designs for wreaths, garlands and other personal decorative purposes.  Floral design has featured prominently in each different era of western culture up through the modern era, which is called the "New Art." The "New Art" spread rapidly in America after the Second World War. A flower basket typifies the "New Art" as it is simply used to hold a small, pleasing bouquet of flowers. Since the 1950's and 1960's there has also been a movement towards the "Dutch Style," which is marked by baskets and bouquets with naturalistic garden style arrangements that use similar flowers as well as parallel lines as part of their overall aesthetics.

In the United States in 2008, flower baskets and other flower design items gross approximately 35.6 billion dollars per year. In that same year, there were approximately 20,000 retail florist shops and apprixmately 900 floral wholesalers in the United States.