Mystery Flower, I think I love you! Actually, it’s not that much of a mystery, it’s the flower of the Tuliptree, which I came across this morning at the markets! Good thing I had my camera because this little flower is a superstar!

Even though its completely sold out, I’m in love. Rex Begonia, the love of my life, now comes printed on a shift dress by Australian Designer Stephanie Downey of Dress Up. Stephanie, if you are out there, I will exchange copious amounts of flowers for one of these!

With more and more consumers leading sustainable, organic lifestyles, we florists are having to come up with unique, environmentally friendly ways to satisfy the demand whilst still delivering a well designed, high quality product. There are lots of changes you can make in your studio, such as use woven natural wraps or natural vessels, however, a great botanical material to help you in your eco quest is definitely the Succulent; textural, versatile, eco-friendly and cost effective.

Succulents are versatile; they come big and small, many different textures and many different colours and can be incorporated into any design. For example, they can be used in a wreath to accent Hydrangea and Roses for a modern take on the traditional or they can be teamed up with Orchids and Wood for a sculptural rustic look.

The best part is, you can inform your customer when the arrangement is ready for the rubbish bin, they can take their Succulent out and put it in water or soil and watch it multiply, it’s like the gift that keeps on giving! We always have an excess of Succulents in our studio from past work, we just lay them in a pot and they multiply like crazy, so we barely ever have to buy more.

Often, we have brides request something traditional with a modern twist for their weddings, so one of my favourite floral wedding themes is teaming dusty blue/grey succulents with beautiful white roses (and a few other bits and pieces). This theme carries through from the bouquet to the reception, even to the bonbonniere if you like, which can be a Succulent for each guest! The lovely brides who have this bouquet, often take the succulents out and pop them in a pot, it’s a nice reminder of the wedding day and will last forever! (unless you kill the unkillable plant!)

Lets be honest, most corporate clients are looking to cut costs, and it always seems like the weekly flowers are one of the first things that is slashed from the budget, instead of losing your clients all together, why not offer your clients a longer lasting solution (keeping the accountant happy!). A natural vessel, such as a log, filled with beautiful Orchids, Succulents and Moss will last well over 3 weeks, be a great talking point, and be environmentally friendly.

A great eco-friendly gift idea is also a succulent wreath, made from various Mosses and Succulents. The wreath looks great, doesn’t need too much maintenance and just keeps getting better with age.

So tell us, do you currently use Succulents in your work? What is your favourite design to use Succulents in?

I know they aren’t Botanical, but I just had to share them with everyone! How amazing are these installations?! Rocking out the colours in a big way, Mexican artist Gabriel Dawe, uses thread and textiles, to create these massively impressive installations. Now can you imagine floral colour on this scale?! Check out more of Gabriel Dawe’s massive thread installation works here.

On the rare occasion a bride does walk in with a different idea, those ideas tend to involve lots of feathers, sparkly stones and pretty ribbons, however, we like to encourage our brides to stick with botanical based arrangements; we still achieve a stunning result without looking too frou frou or tacky!

Some good materials for alternative botanical bouquets are Herbs, Lettuce, Foliage, Succulents, Tillandsia, Vegetables, Fruit, Bromeliads etc. Just remember if you are using something that is soft and will wilt (some herbs, lettuce etc), do give it a good soak and wire it well into the bouquet. Nothing worse than a wilted bouquet in photos!

Lettuce look at some of our favourite alternative botanical bouquets. And yes, the first bouquet is Lettuce. How did you guess?

What do you think would look good in or as a alternative botanical bouquet? If you had to choose something other than flowers, what would it be?