This month we take a look at the subject of flower arranging.
The growing popularity of hostas in the UK is leading to the wider use of hosta leaves by floral artists. We highlight recent developments and list some varieties that our floral art customers are purchasing.
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cut above...One of the pleasures of doing the flower shows throughout the hosta season is visiting the floral art sections and marvelling at the imagination and creativity of floral artists across the UK. A good friend of ours, Margaret Harrison, uses hostas in many of her floral arrangements, like the one illustrated here. Over the years she has made a number of arrangements for us to display on our sales table at shows. This often gives rise to much hilarity as customers think her arrangements constitute a single variety and they ask for 'one of those please'!  As a family we often use hosta leaves in wreaths, celebration arrangements and wedding bouquets. We add hosta leaves to our own floral arrangements around the house and at this time of the year there is always a vase or two of cut leaves on display as we take the opportunity to scan leaves for the website. Being surrounded by so many fabulous examples of hosta inspired us to create a new logo for our website design that tries to capture the variety of leaf types available. Find out more about the leaves we chose for this.
Modern cultivars Hostas lend themselves well to traditional flower arrangements but are perhaps used to more striking effect in contemporary styles of floral art. Cultivars with particularly long or brightly coloured (red/pink) petioles, and a more erect growing habit, have gained in popularity as more than the leaves are on display in contemporary designs. As ever more impossibly exotic blooms become more readily available perhaps we shall see an even more widespread use of hosta leaves to help frame them and create balance in displays? The Beijing OlympicsIt was a delight to see hosta leaves used as part of the design of the official bouquets used at the Beijing Olympic Games. The 6,000 bouquets, awarded alongside the medals, were designed to convey cultural messages of particular importance to the Chinese. The number 9 in Chinese culture is considered especially propitious as it stands for longevity: evergreen; everlasting; eternity. The number 6 stands for smooth running: flowing; smooth; frictionless. The resulting bouquet was elegant, simple and perhaps epitomised the level of detail the Chinese gave to every aspect of their hosting of the games.
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couple of notes...our show season is almost
over We will be showing at Wisley Flower Show and Harrogate Autumn Show over the next couple of weeks, so hope to see you there. Newly available We have been busy dividing parent plants in our collection and have several cultivars we can now offer for the first time - in limited quantities. Find out more |
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Floral art top
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The following are the most popular varieties we have
sold to flower arrangers over the past 2 years:
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'Dancing in the Rain'
- for the white, twisting leaves.
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'Dance with Me'
- for the colour and shape
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'Summer Music'
- for the unusual colour
H.
'Snowden'
- for elegance and colour
H.
'Praying Hands'
- for the upright, furled habit.
H.
plantaginea
- for the fragrant flowers and
shiny leaves
H.
'El Nino'
- for the unusual colour
H.
'Devon Green'
- for the darkest leaves
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'Pineapple Poll'
- for the elongated leaves
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'One Man's Treasure' - for the red stems and
deep green leaves.
| Next month: | Reflections on the 2009 hosta season |