Women wear them in their hair and they often form a part of religious ceremonies, so even in the concrete jungles that our cities have become, flowers are a part of most of our lives. However, now we’re seeing them as value additions to the way our homes look — for the happiness and the little bit of nature they bring into our daily lives (though buying trends indicate it’s still mostly about special occasions and dinner parties). Here, creative directors from stores that offer flower subscriptions, tell us local and seasonal are buzzwords, but there’s also more.
Farm to table
We’re not yet looking for organic, or blooms that are least allergic — both major trends abroad — but we are thinking of our carbon footprint.
So goodbye blue-dyed orchids, hello wild flowers and meadow gatherings. When ordering, look for inspiration to an overgrown bougainvillea in an abandoned house or anything that grows around you, keeping it unstructured and asymmetrical. Karan Singh Parmar, who runs Twelve Tomatoes, in Delhi, says his current favourite ‘flower’ is the lotus receptacle (the green part of the flower, once you’ve plucked out the petals). This former PR executive has reinvented himself as a terrace-garden farmer who offers subscription services.
Keeping in sync with the Pantone colour of the year, greenery, is another trend, says Jarret D’Abreo, from the Mumbai-based House of Flowers. “We are looking at bringing the outdoors inside with lots of twigs and foliage,” he says. Greens add volume, so anything from areca palm and ferns to bottle brush leaves work.
Playing with colour also never goes out of fashion. “The joy is in mixed blooms, in either complementary or contrasting colours, so the arrangement looks different from every side,” says Ahalya S, better known as the founder of kanjeevaram store Kanakavalli, who also runs the Chennai-based Tapestry.
Form and function
People look at flowers as part of a context, says Kiran Rau of Amethyst, Chennai, adding that most ask for flowers particularly when they entertain.
If there’s a traditional ceremony at home, there is always the standard marigold mounds or petals of desi rose strewn down the side of a walkway. “But today, it must be Instagram-able, because people are conscious of presentation,” she adds.
Clients will often ask for flowers set in old cooking utensils, for instance, a fallout of the items already part of the home décor. Which means it must sit next to other pretty accessories, making it a part of a larger theme. Parmar has done arrangements in everything from an old glass jug to a surahi .
CHENNAI: 30/08/2017: Flower arrangements displayed at Amethyst flower shop, in Chennai.. Photo: R. Ravindran.
Most clients, Ahalya says, ask for flowers to go in living spaces, rather than the more intimate spaces in the home, since she believes flowers are not something that recede into the background. “They become part of a larger communication, almost like an installation.”
And, of course, there are always the special occasions. She recalls doing a silver anniversary for a client, where black-and-white photographs and white lilies, orchids and roses were interspersed to form the focal point of the party. She has also had a husband ask for the deliver service every 40 minutes from the time his wife woke up to the time she went to bed, for her 40th birthday!
