This year St. Patrick’s Day is Thursday, March 17th. It seems like most everything in the world becomes green for this occasion, including food. They even sell dyed flowers. But you need not settle for artificially colored green blooms for this holiday. Why not celebrate with green flowers?

When it comes to choosing color schemes for floral designs, one that we
don’t often consider is green. In the field of home décor, green is really a very hot color right now. With quite a number of green flowers available, it is possible to create stunning, monochromatic green bouquets. Here are some ideas on flowers, foliage, and things that are suitable for these. Some of the ones discussed below are cut flowers, while others are fruits, seed pods, or vegetables.

The most popular green flower is definitely the Bells of Ireland. As the name says, these are bell shaped, and are about two inches wide. They’re green for sure, and are used both fresh and dried. Growing on long stems, they reach about two feet in height. Perhaps the word Ireland in the name comes from the fact that Ireland is called the green isle.

When looking for green blossoms, don’t overlook the obvious ones, such as hydrangeas, and some viburnums. The latter can have huge snowball-shaped blooms, and these are often in varying shades of yellow-green.

Green callas aren’t exactly common, but they are sometimes available. Though it might be possible to grow this yourself from bulbs, it is probably more practical to just purchase the cut stems.

Zinnias are one of the more popular summer-blooming cut flowers, and these also come in shades of green. Benary’s Giant Lime zinnia features huge four-inch wide blooms that are completely double. The plants are usually between 2 ½-3 ½ feet in height. These have thick, sturdy stems. The fact that they bloom about nine weeks from seed make this a desirable plant for the cutting garden. Cut stems of Benary’s Giant Lime will last up to two weeks. For best results, place the arrangement where it can get full sun, and keep it warm.

For 2005, Thompson & Morgan is offering Envy Double zinnia. These chartreuse-green blossoms are produced on sturdy, two-foot tall stems. They are fully double.

When looking for mums, it is possible to find a number with greenish blooms. Kiwi Green mum is a Santini type of mum. These stems should be available wherever you buy your cut flowers. Whatever time of year these are grown, the blooms will be an attractive green. There will also be a new green and white variety called Dellanne Greene. This spray spider mum features whitish outer petals and greenish inner ones.

When in bloom, Bupleurum looks somewhat like Euphorbia. However, the two plants aren’t related. The blooms of Bupleurum are in umbels, and are in the same family as Queen Anne’s lace and carrot. In its 2005 catalog, Thompson & Morgan lists Bupleurum rotundifolium Green Gold. About 1½ foot in height, this is a good choice for the cutting garden. It does well in both full sun and partial shade. It produces lots of flower stalks with yellowish-green blooms.

For other sources of green color, head to the produce department of your supermarket. There should be several kinds of green kale available. These tend to be ruffled or wrinkled, which adds visual interest to arrangements. In addition, check out artichokes.