When it comes to a meticulously executed aesthetic, the Japanese can’t be beat. Their attention to detail shows up in everything from the sparest ikebana flower arrangements to the Gothic Lolita-clad teens hanging around Tokyo’s Harajuku railway station.
The names may seem familiar, but these are not your everyday florist flowers. Strikingly bicolor rannunculus with a loosened petal structure open up as big as peonies, and juicy cluster-flower spray roses conjure up images of pink and green popcorn puffs. These new exquisite blooms from Japan are the results of an inensive cut-flower breeding effort now poised to make a big impact here in the United States.
Left: A glass vessel holds casually arranged pink sweet pea, lisianthus, and carnation ‘Mini Tiara’ from Japan paired with garden cuttings Fritillaria acmopetala, leucojum, and a fern frond.
