Sun Kiss Club is built in peach and then argued with in lilac. Peach hydrangea heads and blush roses fill the body of the arrangement in warm, sunlit tones, and a soft coral plume, dyed and feathered, spreads across the right like something between grass and cloud.
Two lilac allium globes float above all of it on long bare stems, one high on the left and one at the centre, and they are the reason the piece has structure. Allium, native to Central Asia and the Mediterranean, has always read as pure geometry; here it interrupts a very soft arrangement with two perfect spheres of a colour that appears nowhere else except in the delphinium behind.
Craspedia does the same job at smaller scale. A dozen yellow and orange heads stand on straight wire-thin stems at different heights, scattered through the upper half like pins in a board. Craspedia comes from Australia and New Zealand, holds its colour indefinitely, and is one of the few flowers that can be used this graphically without looking artificial.
Detail work fills the rest: a blush phalaenopsis orchid trails down the front, a patterned coral anthurium sits at the right, peach bunny tails and a green snapdragon fill the edges. Tied with pink cellophane and an orange striped ribbon, it suits birthdays, thank-you gestures and summer gifting.
Craspedia and the dyed plume are effectively permanent and can be kept indefinitely once the fresh flowers have gone. Hydrangea and roses are the heavy drinkers and want recutting every few days. Allium holds well but has a faint onion note when the water is left to stand, so change it rather than topping it up. Keep the arrangement out of direct sun, which fades peach and coral quickly, and away from an air conditioning vent.
