NAFAS Guidelines: Plant Material

Plant Material in all its Forms

The National Judging Committee has consulted with Judges and Competitors and has issued the following list of products/items that may be considered to be plant material for the purposes of flower arrangement competitions.

“In addition to the definition of “Plant Material” as outlined in the Competitions Manual ‘Fourth Edition (updated 2023).  The items in the document “Plant Material in all its Forms” may also be considered as plant material, and could be used for the purposes of flower arrangement competitions”.  As with all competitions, it is important to read and understand the Competitions Manual.   (Updated 2023)

 

Definition of Natural Plant Material:

    • Natural plant material is any vegetable matter
    • It includes fresh, dried, garden, wild, foliage, fruit, fungi, vegetables and seaweed.

Further guidance can be found in the NAFAS Competitions Manual, Fourth Edition 2023

 

Please note that Artificial Plant Material is not allowed in Competitive work unless specifically stated in a show schedule.

 

Plant Material in All its Forms (Sept 2018)

Artefacts made of Wood

Beads

Boards, Bowls, Boxes, Spoons Buttons

Candlesticks

Carved flowers, fruit, vegetables, fungi, etc

Figurines

Flowers made of wood shavings or similar

Kyogi

Veneer

Wood shavings

 

Artefacts made of Cotton         

Balls of cotton yarn

Knitted items – fabrics, clothing, textiles, etc

Paper/Card

Ribbon

Woven items – fabrics, home textiles, clothing, etc

 

Artefacts made of Jute             

Bags

Balls

Burlap

Canvas

Espadrilles

Fabrics

Fishing nets / Netting

Hessian and Scrim

Home Textiles

Macrame

Mats & carpets

Sacking

String and Rope

Yarn

 

Artefacts made of  Straw / Hay / Grass

Bags

Bird’s Nest

Corn Dollies

Paper Spheres

String & Rope

 

Artefacts made of Cork            

Bottle stoppers

Mats / Matting

 

Artefacts made of Cane            

Baskets

Mats

Spheres

 

Paper of fibres from:                    

Agave (Agave bagasse paper)

Bamboo

Banana

Cotton or cotton rags

Daphne (Lokta paper)

Fig (Bark cloth)

Flax Rice

Grass (Chhapri paper)

Hemp

Jute (Gunny paper)

Maize

Mango

Mitsumata

Mulberry (Washi/Rakusui and others)

Nettle (Ramie paper)

Papyrus Sugar cane (Bagasse paper)

Sugar cane (Bagasse paper)

Rice

Mixed organic fibres (eg coconut, water hyacinth, gampi, mulberry)

 

Artefacts made of card / paper

Boxes

Cut, moulded, glued, shredded, woven items, etc

Egg boxes

Flowers, leaves, vegetables, fungi, etc

Origami items

 

Additional items not mentioned above

Coconut fibre

Hapene

Latex balloon

Loofah

Midelino (Rattan)

Pasta

Plant fibres/’tops’ such as soya and bamboo Seaweed (Nori, Gim, Wakami, etc)

Sisal

Takenokawa (bamboo culm sheath)

Ting-ting

Waxed fruit and vegetables

 

Visit your local flower club

If you love flowers and are interested in flower arranging, why not visit your local flower club? Just come and meet new people, enjoy yourselves and learn a bit about flower arranging; visitors are always warmly welcomed. Details of all the clubs may be found on the 'Flower Clubs' page.

Visit our Flower Clubs Page