November is late spring here in Australia, when our most fragrant and bright flowers are in full bloom and in high demand! And while I always implore florists to follow their intuition when it comes to styling, there are a few ways I like to style these November blooms for maximum impact.
Bouvardia
Bouvardia is a delicate flower, blooming from thin stems into clusters of four-petaled flowers. It comes in white/cream, pink and red, and usually lives for up to 1-2 weeks. Bouvardia is a great option for anyone looking to add that dainty, feminine touch to a bouquet. Keep in mind that bouvardia’s country of origin is Mexico, so don’t keep them in the cold for too long!
To style bouvardia, I prefer to use it as a complementing flower in my bouquets. If you are creating a bouquet that is mainly darker colours, a few bunches of cream bouvardia will really stand out in the arrangement.
If you are working with an all-white/lighter bouquet, pink bouvardia will make a gentle addition that adds colour without being too dramatic. Even adding white bouvardia to a light bouquet can help provide some different texture.
You can, of course, create a bouquet solely from bouvardia, as there are plenty of colour shades to play with.
Hydrangea
Hydrangeas bloom over spring and summer, and their stunning array of colours makes them a staple for many a florist. Hydrangeas grow in white, blue, green, yellow, purple and pink, usually in rounded clusters of blooms.
Pairing hydrangeas with roses is a popular styling choice, especially when you combine contrasting colours such as red roses against white hydrangeas. The many colours of hydrangeas also mean you can do a single-colour arrangement, say of pink hydrangeas and pink roses.
The dainty, feminine feel of hydrangea’s small blooms makes them a perfect choice for bridal bouquets, whether on their own or paired with cool-toned foliage for a rustic, fresh-from-the-garden type feel.
Hydrangeas are an excellent filler flower too, so if you want to draw attention to a larger bloom like protea, you can fill in the space around it with bunches of hydrangea.
Peonies
A symbol of romance and good luck, peonies are another November flower that features heavily in bridal bouquets! Most commonly available in yellow, pink and white, peonies have a dreamy, romantic feel about them and are incredibly versatile flowers for using in arrangements.
Peonies pair well with so many different flowers, with some of my favourites being anemones, ranunculus and snapdragons, especially when you can get some really vibrant colours to contrast against the more muted shades of the peonies. For a garden-fresh, rustic feel arrangement, you can use dust miller or eucalyptus as the filler foliage – the very cool-toned feel of these two matches the peonies really well!
But while peonies do really well with other flowers, they also look completely stunning on their own. Keep it super simple with a single-colour bouquet, or mix it up by pairing different coloured peonies together – yellow and white together are just magical.
I can’t wait to see how you style your November flowers – don’t forget to tag @bloomcollege on socials so I don’t miss it!
Think you’d prefer some more guidance on creating your arrangements? I’ve laid out a bunch of slightly more advanced flower arrangements in my e-book, Beyond The Basics. Grab a copy here or check out my course, Bloom Basics, to get started with flower arranging.
