Who knows how color combinations, botanical preferences, or bouquet personalities rise to the top of our current floral "favorites" list? Just as humans are drawn to ever-changing styles in fashion, interiors, automobiles, and even cuisine, there is always something New and Next to lure us down the garden path of discovery. We may be attuned to the exceptional because it's in our DNA, but even if it is subconscious, those of us in the floral world are continually evaluating, comparing, considering as we seek a fresh spot on the floral color spectrum, or an unexpected way to combine the familiar with the unfamiliar.

I love to find and identify those shifts, subtle or dramatic, because they influence which flowers and foliages we begin to grow or use in our floral arrangements. Whether short-term infatuations or major style shifts, changing flower fashions are worth noting.

In Part 1 of our Slow Flowers Floral Forecast, we recapped notable trends in the flower farming and design industry. Now at the zenith of this year's floral season, let's hit the refresh button on floral trends with a dive into emerging colors and shapes, illustrated with designs by Slow Flowers members and Johnny's photography and flower-trialing team.

For a June wildflower wedding

Isabella Thorndike Church of Jacklily Seasonal Floral Design partnered with her family's flower farm, Le Mera Gardens in Talent, Oregon, to gather stems into a bridal crown and bouquet in soft pastels, with touches of butter yellow and terracotta-raspberry. Here, daisies and cosmos are the focal flowers; spikes of lupine, delphinium, and foxglove provide contrast. © Jesscaste Photography

Romance in green

Hellebores, succulents, eucalyptus, quaking grass, ferns, and other foraged and regional elements add up to a wild and romantic tonal-green bouquet by Isabella Thorndike Church of Jacklily Seasonal Floral Design and Le Mera Gardens for a styled photo shoot on the Oregon Coast. © Pixy Prints Photography



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