Floral trend: Black is back

Once thought of as morbid, floral experts say black is back when it comes to choosing flower color.

"The trend comes from the fact that black goes with such a range of plants," chief horticultural advisor at the Royal Horticulture Society, Guy Barter, told the London Evening Standard. "People feel a pressure to get the combination of flowers right in the garden, so black and white flowering plants are safe because they go with anything."

Floral experts say that these dark-colored flowers, which are not really black, but usually a very dark shade of purple or red that appears black, are being seen in floral arrangements in restaurants and offices, on runways at London Fashion Week and even in wedding bouquets. A British floral expert told the news provider that he's seen several monochrome weddings in which the bride, wearing white, carries black flowers while the bridesmaids wear black dresses and carry white flowers.

Designer Karl Lagerfield had models walk the catwalk during his spring/summer 2010 fashion show carrying baskets of white flowers featuring a few stems of blacks as well.

Image credits: Randy OHC via Flickr - A black tulip in West Park, NY

Last week, horticulturists announced that they developed the world's first black petunia plant, called Black Velvet. The bloom was created using traditional flower breeding techniques, without the use of genetic modification.

Flower breeder Jianping Ren told the UK's Daily Mail, "The black color did not exist in petunias before, so it has to come from the right recombination of a novel color mutant and multiple regular color genetic backgrounds."

The Black Velvet will be available next spring and summer and will be advertised with the catch line, "black goes with everything."

"They say black goes with anything, and it really looks exceptionally striking in the garden - it goes very well with whites, yellows and pinks," Stuart Lowen, from the flower breeding company Ball Colegrave told the newspaper.

Other flowers varieties available in black include the iconic black dahlia as well as iris, tulip, orchid, calla lily, and rose. When it comes to using black flowers in a floral arrangement, experts say a few blooms can make a bold statement. Combining black and white flowers with small hints of a bright accent color can create a fantastic cut flower arrangement. Using different color flowers from the same variety can make the effect even more dramatic in a centerpiece or bouquet.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TeleflorasFlowerBlog/~3/4jjRZtpbFxA/post.aspx

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