This weekend I picked some of the black and green flowers in the garden, in an effort to make an arrangement for a dinner that felt more stylish, yet botanically interesting. Playing with color, and being more aware about color, this year I have been trying more dark, black and green flowers, but things never really work out the way we plan, for my ‘black and purple’ vegetable garden bed has yet to materialize. These calla bulbs were intended for the black garden, but I ran out of room this spring, so I planted them along the greenhouse bed, where they are now lost under a jungle of growth from the Amaranth which now towers 6 feet over them.
Black, or technically dark red flowers, as well as green flowers are currently stylish with floral designers. Black calla’s are much smaller than the standard white calla lilies, infinitely tiny in comparison, but they produce more flowers from each bulb. Ordered this spring, the black callas were planted infront of the greenhouse along with the green amaranth ( the green stuff tumbling out of the arrangement). The Amaranth, or Love Lies Bleeding, has grown so tall, that the calla’s are practically lost, so I decided to pick all of them.
Green Zinnia’a are also quite trendy. What was once a novelty in the 1970’s, green flowers are sought out by anyone sensitive with color. If you have ever tried growing the few cultivars that are green, and have had problems with them turning off white or yellow, try planting them where they get a bit of shade in mid day or later in the day, for the green color washes out in full sun. Also, as with all zinnia, keep well watered, well ventilated ( to keep fungal infections like powdery mildew down) and keep them well fertilized.
The purple daylilly is an older cultivar called ‘Little Grapette”, and I picked a dark succulent to accent the black calla’s. The container, is a vintage circa 1800 Chinese glazed pot.
The black Calla lily is a beauty! The flower arrangement is perfect!
The black callas are gorgeous. Your arrangement is simply stunning!
I've been meaning to comment, this is such a wonderful color combination. The cala lilies are fantastic. I like the combination of the more elegant cala with the more country zinna.
Green is my favourite colour and I am having difficulty finding someone who stocks the seeds. Can you help please ? I would have to order by post as I now live in SW France. Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Bryony
My name is Zinnia and my favorite colour is green, so i definitely love the Zinnia's more althouth I think the Cala Lillies are beautiful.
Landreth's has the Green Envy seed. landrethseeds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1026
June 6, 2012
-SJB