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Just as each room in the home serves adifferent function, so different floraldisplays in appropriate styles willenhance their environment.

The dining room has a high profile inflower-arranging terms, as it becomesthe centre stage whenever the familygathers for a leisurely meal — at Sundaylunchtime, perhaps — or whenentertaining friends. If you have morethan one arrangement in the room, it isa good idea to compose them with alinking theme. You could choosesimilar flowers, but in different colours:deep-pink Peruvian lilies, for example,in one case and the palest of pinks inanother. A tall pitcher of white iris onthe sideboard could he interpreted byfloating similar flowers in a glass bowlon the dining table, by placing a singleflower in a specimen vase at each placesetting, or by blending white iris in anarrangement with anemones or roses.

In the living room, the well of thefireplace forms a dramatic arch for aflamboyant arrangement of seasonalplant materials chosen according to thecolour and texture of the fireplacesurround: a large earthenware jug ofhorse-chestnut buds in spring, a coolblend of blues and greens in summer,and the fiery hues of red, orange andyellow as winter approaches.

In summer, fresh flowers — especiallyif placed on a sunny window sill — arevulnerable and will fade quickly. Inthese circumstances, achieve the best ofboth worlds and choose the brightestand boldest of containers to displaysun-bleached seedheads; fill a largewhite jug with a burst of fresh or driedgypsophila and strawflowers; pack abasket full of wild oats and decorativegrasses, and wrap it with a brightlycoloured paper-ribbon bow; or arrangesome arching stems of translucent,dramatically back-lit foliage.

Flower arrangements for a bedroomor guest room are unashamed tokensof indulgence, and should be both romantic and restful. Try filling a prettyjug with a handful of fully opened rosesor a nosegay of roses, lilies and larkspurin muted colours. Arrange a posy for adressing table with spray carnations anddaisy chrysanthemums in apricot and peach tints, or compose a miniaturegroup of moody blues with forget-me-nots and cornflowers tumbling over theside of a blue-glass pitcher.

In a bathroom, take account of thelikely temperature and humiditychanges, and select the sturdiest andmost long-lasting of blooms. Theseinclude chrysanthemums of all kinds,marigolds, carnations, spray carnations,lilies and tulips.

For a dried-flower bathroomarrangement, choose, again, from themost good-tempered examples, whichinclude all the everlastings —strawflowers, rhodanthe, andacroclinium — statice, honesty, Chineselanterns (winter cherry), and otherseedheads. Or protect more delicateflowers under glass: an arrangementcomposed in dry foam on a hoard andcovered with a glass dome — a modemcheese dish or an upturned containerfor preserves — satisfies both aestheticand practical considerations.

The kitchen is another room that issubject to rapid temperature changes,so many of the same ground rules applyas for the bathroom. A jug of marigoldson the kitchen table signals a cheeryearly-morning greeting; a pot of herbson the window sill has both decorativeand culinary properties; and a hangingbasket of foliage plants, or grains andgrasses, lifts floral decor to a high