Lisianthus - Flower of the Month - December

Lisianthus

This flower has its roots in the Wild West and has come to Europe all the way via Japan. Consumers can read all about this natural beauty in the Flower Agenda at Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk. Even with its delicate appearance, it is quite robust, lisianthus is rather well known but hardly celebrated. This magnificent flower deserves better praise, which can easily be done by presenting them in a special way.   

Lisianthus’ origin 
The lisianthus originates from North America where it grows in desert riverbeds and in prairie regions. In the states of Texas, Nebraska, Nevada and Colorado they call this plant prairie gentian. In the 1930s Japanese growers crossed the prairie gentian, laying the foundations for today’s range. The lisianthus is sometimes called Eustoma, which is the official scientific name.  

Lisianthus shapes and colours 
This flower is mostly seen in white and purple, but there is an enormous choice of colour available: the lisianthus comes in white, green, blue, pink, lilac, purple and salmon hues. Some flowers even have petals with multiple colours. The lisianthus also comes in many shapes: single and double flowered, large and small flowered and even with fringed petals.  Apart from being colourful, lisianthus petals are also very soft and delicate.   

Care tips for customers

• Select a clean vase and fill it with tap water at room temperature.
• Add cut flower food to the water for a longer vase life. This has a very positive effect on the vase life for lisianthus in particular.
• Cut or trim the stems diagonally by 3 to 5 cm with a clean sharp knife or secateurs.
• Make sure there are no leaves hanging in the water.
• Do not place lisianthus in a draught, in full sun or near central heating.
• Regularly top the vase up with tap water; lisianthus flowers drink a lot because they have thin petals, as a result of which they evaporate a lot of moisture.
• Don’t place lisianthus near a fruit bowl. Fruit emits ethylene gas which will cause the flowers to age more rapidly.

Lisianthus symbolism 
The lisianthus may have a soft and delicate appearance, but it is sturdy and has powerful symbolism attached to it:  this flower represents appreciation, gratitude and charisma. That makes it the perfect candidate for a gift bouquet from someone else… or for yourself, of course!   

More inspiration and information 
Consumers will see the lisianthus feature on Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk and will learn to appreciate their beauty and learn about all their stories.  

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We use Lisianthus in many of our wedding designs (see the right side bar). To give you some inspiration here are a sample

Shower bouquet

Bridal posy

Mother of bride corsage

Natural style buttonhole

If you are looking for wedding ideas for this beautiful flower come and visit us at The Studio and chat through your options.

Sandra

Scrummy pastel wedding flowers

Looking back to a gorgeous pastel wedding from last summer.

These bouquets not only look scrummy but were scented too. Filled with roses and eustoma (pink and ivory), lilac freesia, gyp and asparagus fern.

The stems were bound with ivory satin ribbon.

The three bridesmaids carried a similar but smaller version as the bride.

The bridal party bouquets all together.

The groomsmen wore ivory rose buttonholes with a sprig of gyp and asparagus fern.

The ladies wore a corsge of a single ivory rose and eustoma flowers and buds with gyp and fern

Our buttonholes are delivered and presented to the wedding guests on a covered board. These can be labelled on request. Remember you are not there to supervise the handing out. 

The wedding ceremony was held at St Mary's church at Riseholme. The bride decorated most of the church herself with artificial designs but we provided a couple of small pedestals for the ceremony space.

These were then transported to the reception by the wedding party.

St Mary's Church Riseholme.

If you are looking for your wedding florist and like any of the designs we create please get in touch to talk through how we can style your flowers for your day.

We have over the years styled many of the local venues, take a look down on the right, find labels and scroll until you find church or venue. All are listed by type - Church: St Mary's Riseholme.

If you can't find your particular venue please get in touch as it may be one we couldn't blog about.

Looking forward to hearing your plans

Sandra x

Pink wedding flowers

Looking for inspiration for your wedding flowers and having pink as the accent colour? Look no further.

Top: Like lilies? You can have them in your bouquet. A few open blooms and buds with a cage of willow/foliage or wire can make this bouquet unique to you.

Prefer gerberas? Want something simple? Have a hand-tie of gerberas with pretty ribbon trails. Many shades are available from the palest to the hotest pinks.

 Do you want something different but love roses. Try a carmen rose. It can be created with any colour of rose but a soft pink with lovely organza ribbon looks dreamy.

 You can't beat a scented bouquet, so how about a mass of freesias? A lovely dainty flower that works aswell on its own as with other flowers.

 Want something different? A bouquet of alstroemeria flowers taken to pieces and put back together as only a florist can. Add some sparkle, for a truly special bouquet.

 A modern take on the shower bouquet. Lovely sweetpeas, eustoma and roses with bear grass to add extra length.

 Don't want to carry a bouquet or want something else for your bridesmaids? How about wrist corsages. There are now many types of bracelets available to co-ordinate with your style. These work with most flowers but this uses roses and ivy leaves.

 Getting married for the second time or having an intimate civil do? Not wearing a 'big white dress' but a suit or similar, then treat yourself to a corsage, you don't have to carry a bouquet.

A super gorgeous hand-tie of roses, peonies, sweetpeas and heather.

 A hand-tie of garden roses. They come in various shades and when in full bloom are huge and most are scented. They work very well with vintage styling.

 A country styled wedding with mixed seasonal flowers: Roses, stocks, astrantia, larkspur and guelder rose.

How about a posy of a gorgeous garden rose surrounded by cymbidium orchids with extra sparkle.

These are just a selection of what is available, many other styles and flowers are out there. Just ask.

Purple themed bouquets

 For those of you who have chosen to have purple as your accent colour, here are a few examples of bouquets and flowers available to you. Please remember the season you are getting wed may affect availability.

 Purple edged carnations, don't overlook this 'common' flower. There really are some beautiful varieties available.

 A mixed hand-tie design. The combination of pinks, lilac and white work well against a purple bridesmaid dress as well as adding colour to the brides bouquet.

 Picasso calla lilies. A modern hand-tie using just one flower type, but sometimes less is definitely more.

 A Mother of the bride/groom corsage. Purple calla lily with purple eustoma, trachelium and september flower, all available through most of the year.

 A hand-tie of all eustoma, but using different colours. A mix of purple and white with picotee varieties to add interest.

 Purple shades shouldn't be discounted, purple cymbidiums and singapore orchids come in variety of shades.

 Purple hydrangea, thought to be expensive but an excellent filler flower.

 Roses, tulips and lilac itself come in some interesting shades.

 Can't match that must have flower, add in some coloured wire for a real modern touch.

 Country garden theme, purples and lilacs work well with statice, scabious and larkspur available through the summer.

 Another country themed hand-tie. Roses and freesia are always popular.
Don't overlook Iris. Not often used in bridal flowers they can work well if used right.

Statuesque delphiniums, roses and phlox make a stunning overarm bouquet.

Ivory, pale pink and green wedding flowers

Marie and Elliot's wedding flowers from Saturday.
The colour scheme was ivory, pale pink and green.

Most of our correspondence was done via e-mail and right from the start Marie chose this shower bouquet for herself. The colour combination we agreed on was ivory roses and eustoma with pale pink sweetpeas and bear grass. The grass adds length and movement with the loops adding a modern element to a traditional style.

A close up of the centre of the bouquet. Avalanche roses and ivory eustoma nestle amongst gorgeous sweet scented sweetpeas.
Marie also decided from the start her maids would wear wrist corsages providing me with green organza ribbon to use. An Avalanche rose and eustoma corsage with mixed foliage and ivory feathers kept the design simple and modern.

The flower girl also had a wrist corsage but I used spray roses and eustoma to keep it small. She also carried a small basket of rose petals decorated with matching satin green ribbon.

The Mother of the Bride corsage had a single avalanche rose with a sweetpea flower, rolled sweet avalanche rose petals and freesia. Ivory feathers and diamonte completed the design.

The Mother of the Groom corsage was a single sweet avalanche rose and white freesia with mixed foliage and diamontes.

The Groom's buttonhole was a single avalanche rose with spray roses and ivy leaves.

The page boy wore a specially designed buttonhole of spray rose flowers and buds with ivy leaves.

The rest of the male guests wore a single avalanche rose with ivy leaves. All the buttonholes had a green satin bow added to complement the colourscheme.