Fashion Flowers For Autumn - Animated Colours

< Gerbera

A flower that everyone is familiar with. It epitomises every child's drawing of a flower, with its simple, circular shape and long straight stem. Gerberas come in sophisticated shades now, but they look most like their true selves in bright, cartoony, primary colours. They come from Southern Africa, hence they are sometimes called Transvaal daisies. Miniature versions of gerbera - germinis - look just like their big brothers but are more manageable in arrangements. There are also "spider" gerbera, which look like someone's shredded the petals with a razorblade.

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Celosia>

A very strange looking flower in all three of its common forms - one (Celosia argentea) looks like furry brains, the other (Celosia plumosa) like a feather duster! The third version shown in Animated Colours is celosia "Caracas". Despite this South American name, celosias are native to tropical Africa and their bright vibrant colours make us think of tropical places. The flowers are slightly furry or tufty to touch adding an extra fun dimension to a bouquet.

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< Craspedia

Looking more like a snack than a flower, craspedia is perfect for the cartoony-like arrangements in Animated Colours. The flower has been reduced to its bare minimum - a globe of bright yellow on top of a long grey-green stalk. This accounts for their common name of drumstick flower. Craspedia originates from New Zealand, home of birds that can't fly, so a flower without any petals is not so unusual! The name comes from the Greek for fringe - even more strangely…

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Kniphofia >

These are more commonly known as red-hot pokers - an apt description of their tall, slender poker-like shape, and flame-like yellow-red colour. Kniphofia (pronounced nye-fofia or nee-fofia) originate in Southern Africa. The flower spikes grow out of large clumps of grassy-looking foliage. Kniphofia have long, smooth thick stems without any leaves, making them quick and simple to arrange.

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< Lily

Lilies are one of the UK's favourite flowers (according to Flowers & Plants Association annual surveys). There are three main types of cut flower lily - Oriental, with large open flowers, heavily scented; Longiflorum, with long trumpet-shaped flowers, usually white or pale shades, heavily scented; and Asiatic, which have smaller, open flowers in bright colours, and no fragrance. Recent developments in breeding have crossed these three main types to produce lilies like the LA - possessing the sweet scent of Longiflorum lilies with the clear bright colours of Asiatic lilies.

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Anthurium >

Anthuriums are a fun flower and never fail to provoke a smile. This makes them an ideal flower for the Animated Colours trend. They look almost unreal! The flowers are thick, shiny, ribbed and wrinkled, while the leaves are large and glossy. They have many alternative names including painter's palette, flamingo flower, and tailflower. When they are exported from commercial nurseries around the world, each stem end is placed into a phial of water so the flower can drink on the journey, and then each flower is carefully taped inside the box, to prevent damage en route.

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