Not just because St. Patrick’s Day is approaching, but have you noticed how much green is showing up in your local flower shop? Since fresh flowers automatically come with green leaves and stems, the color has always been a fact of life, taken for granted and usually understated in flower arrangements.

Going Green

With the resurgent popularity of green as a fashionable hue in recent years, professional florists are recognizing the value of emphasizing this color in their designs. Just like any color, green can be expressed in a wide range of tones, tints, shades, and intensities. While we normally consider green to be a cool color, the hue that really catches our eye is a “hot” chartreuse green. Think Versace.

A Look At The Color Wheel

Artists, including floral designers, are familiar with the color wheel, a visual tool which organizes colors according to the spectrum and allows us to see various relationships among them. On one side of the wheel are the so called “warm”, or advancing colors, including reds, oranges, and yellows. On the other side are the “cool” or receding colors, such as lavender, blue, and green. Purple, a blend of cool blue and warm red, sits between the two groups and consequently is an effective accent color in nearly any color harmony. With it’s unique and mysterious personality, purple has traditionally been associated with royalty, magic, and spirituality.

Chartreuse – Warm & Cool

Chartreuse, being a combination of warm yellow and cool green, has similar qualities. It is the direct complement to red-purple, and it is a color which is practically unavoidable to the human eye. And for those reasons, it can really add a lot of punch to a flower arrangement, flattering both the advancing and the receding hues.

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