Radiant Orchid 2014 Colour of the Year

As you may have already read, pantone has announced "Radiant Orchid' purple as the colour of the year for 2014. Pantone describes: "Radiant Orchid blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination. It is an expressive, creative and embracing purple—one that draws you in with its beguiling charm. A captivating harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love and health."

There is a currently a good selection of purple flowers available, but with its popularity increasing there will be even more choices coming to market. One of the recent additions that I have seen are Florigene Carnations available in various purple shades.  I had an order for some arrangements this month with the color purple being the main focus.
 

Low and long table centrepiece. Florigene carnations in light and dark purple, green fuji mum, yellow commercial mum and yellow carnations

This one sided arrangement contains campanula (bell flower family), liatris, green fuji mum, yellow carnations and purple lisianthus

Large focal arrangement bursting with pussy willow branches, campanula, liatris, green fuji mum, yellow commercial mum, Florigene purple carnations, yellow carnations, lisianthus and yellow mini gerbera

Tropical Lovers

During the month of March I had a few birthday arrangements where the flowers of choice were tropicals.  I chose to make these large arrangements with Ginger, Anthuriums and Leucadendron Safari.

Heliconia

The heliconia family consists of over 100 species. Many species of Heliconia are found in rainforests or tropical wet forests. Featured below is Heliconia Wagneriana, commonly also referred to as 'lobster-claws'. These stunning heliconias have been grouped with tropical leaves and a strelitzia (bird-of-paradise). Always a WOW reaction when delivered to customer.

 

Tropical Breeze

In the middle of this long and cold winter, I find myself longing for a tropical climate.  The closest that I could come to the tropics this week, was to go into the greenhouse and pick some birds of paradise which are currently blooming.  Although the temperature is still cold outside, these tropical flowers bring an extra ray of sunshine into my kitchen.

These flowers are so dramatic on their own, that only a few monstera leaves were added.

Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arranging) arrangement.  Bird of paradise, sorbonne lilies and  monstera leaf.

Christmas Flower Arrangements

Fresh flowers during the holiday season can brighten up a specific spot in your home or add some extra colour to a table setting.  Although the traditional colours of red and white are still extremely popular, some choose flowers to tie in with a specific colour theme.  Here are some of my creations from this holiday season. (for more detail information, see the Christmas floral arrangements page.)