What Is Floral Foam and Why We Stopped Using It
Floral foam. The green spongy block you've probably seen in flower arrangements. Has been a standard floristry tool for decades. We stopped using it in 2020 and haven't missed it. Here's why, and what we do instead.
What floral foam actually is
Floral foam is a phenolic resin foam, similar in composition to some plastics. It's designed to hold water and to be pierced by flower stems, which allows florists to position stems at precise angles. It's been widely used since the 1950s and is still the default in a lot of commercial floristry.
The problem is that it doesn't biodegrade. It breaks down into microplastics, which end up in waterways when the foam is rinsed or disposed of. A single block of floral foam used for one arrangement can shed millions of microplastic particles. The UK floristry industry uses a significant volume of it every year.
What we use instead
For hand-tied bouquets, we don't need a substitute. The stems support each other and go straight into water. For arrangements in vessels, we use a grid of waterproof tape across the mouth of the container, which holds stems at angles almost as precisely as foam does. For larger installations, we use chicken wire formed into a loose ball inside the vessel, which gives a lot of flexibility.
Neither of these is as fast as foam for a florist who's used to it. It took us a few months to get as quick with tape grids as we had been with foam. But the arrangements last just as well, and we're not putting microplastics into the drain every time we clean up.
Does it affect the flowers?
Honestly, we think the flowers do better without foam. Stems in foam can only take up water through the cut end that's in contact with the wet foam, and foam dries out faster than a water-filled vessel. Stems in water have full access to the water around them and tend to last longer.
The main thing foam gives you is precise stem placement, and the tape grid gets you most of the way there. For the arrangements we make, it's a trade-off we're happy with.
If you have questions about how we work or what materials we use, the questions we get asked page has more detail, or you're welcome to ask when you come into the studio.