Fashionable florals

Need a little inspiration next time you put together a floral arrangement? Look no further than the fashion runways.

Fashion designers make a lot of money figuring out what color combinations will be en vogue each season. There’s no reason why you can’t swipe their ideas and apply them to flowers (and home décor in general, for that matter).

So what will be hot this fall? Pantone Inc., a company that specializes in color combinations and releases a report after New York City’s Fall Fashion Week every February, says go for cool hues, such as blues, greens and purples, or warm oranges, reds and yellows. The greens have names such as kelp, moss and mint, while the purples look like jewels.

To see the specific color shades that are causing a fashion stir, visit www.pantone.com.

Because it’s not quite fall yet and the best accessory for August is the sun, let’s focus on orange. Pantone says the burnt orange that’s popular now adds a touch of “vintage and modern, hippie but haute, tough yet feminine” to fashion.

We might be stretching it to expect all that from a floral arrangement, but it’s worth a shot, right?

Some flowers with orange varieties include poppies, Asiatic lilies, roses, calla lilies, chrysanthemums, tulips, sunflowers, gerber daisies and dahlias.

In the Pantone report, the design house Y&Kei suggests pairing orange with the color “porcelain,” which in Crayola terms must mean off-white. Off-white flowers and plants can include calla lilies, snapdragons, hydrangeas, roses, carnations, peonies and ranunculus.

Place the flowers in an off-white or orange vase, so as not to distract from the color combination.

Your haute arrangement will represent the final hot days of summer in style.