Tutti Frutti Blooms works in primaries. Cobalt hydrangea fills the entire lower left in deep saturated blue, two sunflowers open above it in flat yellow with black centres, and red anthurium, red roses and red spider chrysanthemums run down the right. There is no attempt to soften any of it.
Anthurium appears four times in three colours: one cobalt blue at the top, one bright red at the right edge, and two burgundy so dark they read as shadow at the bottom. From the rainforests of Colombia and Ecuador, anthurium is the only flower here that can hold a flat plane of colour, and using it repeatedly is what gives the arrangement its rhythm.
Two bird of paradise open in orange at the top right and mid-right, and a yellow leucospermum pincushion sits between them, spiky and precise. Yellow gerbera and spider chrysanthemums cluster through the centre, a cream chrysanthemum ball sits high, and pale blue and white delphinium spikes rise at the back to give the whole thing air.
A single pink cymbidium orchid spray at the right is the only concession to softness, and green millet trails at the base. Wrapped in a floral print that has nothing in common with the flowers, it is a piece built for impact. It suits birthdays, congratulations, openings and any occasion where the flowers are meant to arrive before the message does.
Anthurium is the longest-lived flower in this arrangement, often three weeks or more, and the four of them can be lifted into a vase of their own once the rest has gone. Sunflowers drink the most and will show it first. Hydrangea and delphinium want daily topping up. Chrysanthemum and the leucospermum hold well throughout. Keep the arrangement out of direct sun and away from fruit, and recut the sunflower and rose stems every two to three days.
