Patterns Reflected in Nature

Last weekend while conducting a horticultural therapy workshop including an activity focused on the creation of bouquets using native plants, the participants and I had a discussion on what makes a “good” bouquet versus a “bad” bouquet.  While explaining that odd numbers of things are considered more visually attractive to us than even numbered things, telling them to try to remember a ratio of 3 “thriller” flowers - 5 pieces of foliage - 8 pieces of filler, someone curiously asked, “Wait, but why is an odd number of flowers more attractive than an even amount?”

A Good Bouquet adheres to a visual balance and cohesion, following the 3-5-8 rule, while a Bad Bouquet may appear blocky and misguided, lacking any real attention to the sculptural and dimensional nature of the bouquet as an entity existing in a space. This 3-5-8 rule is not only useful in cut flower arrangements, but any artistic endeavor, and there is good reason for that. This specific code is one of the primary golden ratios belonging to nature’s most universal pattern: the Fibonacci sequence.

For fear of making you think too much about math in a horticulture email, it is important to realize how we arrive at this golden ratio. The Fibonacci sequence, seen both from microscopic and macroscopic lenses in the very world around us, relies upon a specific pattern of numbers called a “recursive sequence” that generates the particular rule the sequence follows. Fractals are also recursive patterns and are closely related to the Fibonacci sequence, repeating upon themselves indefinitely in a self-similar fashion, compounding in perpetuity. While you probably feel like the confused math lady meme right now, there’s an easier way to think about how this process works.

The Fibonacci sequence begins with 0 and 1, which are added together to equal 1. This new integer is added to the previous 1 to get 2, 2 is added back to 1 to get 3, and so on. Something like this:

0+1=1

1+1=2

1+2=3

2+3=5

3+5=8

5+8=13

As you can see, our old friend 3-5-8 is the fifth of the primary Fibonacci sequences, making it more visually relevant to our natural perception than we often think about. The spiral of disk petals at the center of a sunflower is one of the most recognizable instances of the Fibonacci sequence occurring naturally, although it goes much deeper than that. Plants develop in a way that maximizes their light-capturing capabilities, growing their leaves in a particular arrangement around a stem that follows this universal pattern, called phyllotaxis. This is most overtly displayed in natural curiosities such as an unfurling fern crosier, a whorl of fleshy Sedum leaves, the radial outward spiral of Yucca filamentosa foliage, and even the arrangement of double-flowering rose petals.

The Golden Ratio is an anomaly that exists so commonly and infiltrates our everyday lives so fluidly that we are instantly able to tell when something does not follow this rule and is visually jarring or incoherent.

This natural sequence can, and should, certainly be applied to how we design our gardens and landscapes for optical cohesion and balance while also providing an opportunity for creative freedom. Although crafting a literal Fibonacci spiral shape in some smaller spaces might not be possible, quantitative planting in sequentially pleasing groups is. The simplest example might be a small container arrangement, which could contain (1) Penstemon digitalis ‘Blackbeard’, (2) Heuchera villosa ‘Caramel’, and (3) Meehania cordata; this follows not only the Fibonacci sequence, but is also composed of secondary colors (dark purple foliage and lilac flowers, peachy orange/caramel foliage, and green creeping runners topped with purple blooms), which are also perceived as visually unifying.

Adapting this idea to larger scales gives leeway to experiment with plant palettes, textures, and shapes. 5-8-13 might not necessarily look like (5) Hemerocallis citrina, (8) Carex laxiculmis ‘Bunny Blue’, and (13) Spigelia marilandica ‘Ragin’ Cagin’. Instead, it might be a certain color or textural quality that fulfills these requirements as opposed to individual plants: (5) yellow = [(2) Hemerocallis citrina + (3) Zizia aurea], (8) blue = [(5) C. laxiculmis ‘Bunny Blue’, (3) Hosta ‘Frances Williams’], and (13) red = [(5) S. marilandica ‘Ragin Cajun’, (5) Aquilegia canadensis, (3) Lobelia cardinalis], although the possibilities on variation, depending on the size and dynamism of the space, are virtually innumerable – some might even say fractal-like.

Ready to get your Fibonacci design started, but need somewhere to better organize the plant possibilities in your potential palette?

Log in to your Wholesale Account portal on the Pleasant Run website and click “Project Plant Lists” to start creating helpful, easy-to-read, and customer-friendly plant lists today!