Pantone Color of the Year 2016

Pantone Color of the Year 2016

2016 Color of the Year Lady Aster Pantone Rose Quartz Serenity

Pantone wants us all to calm down in 2016.  For the first time in history the color institute, Pantone, has chosen the blending of two hues for Color of the Year 2016--Rose Quartz and Serenity (Pantone 13-1520 and 15-3919, respectively).

Rose Quartz and Serenity

Much different than 2015's full-bodied and complex Marsala, the blending of Rose Quartz and Serenity offers a softer take on color, fashion, and art for 2016.



This blending is a mindful and symbolic act; it is to be seen as an antidote to modern-day stresses and as a visual participant in the social and cultural transformations happening around us.  According to Pantone's Executive Director, Leatrice Eisman, the blending of Rose Quartz and Serenity seek to "challenge traditional perceptions of color association," while simultaneously demonstrating "an inherent balance" between warm and cool tones.

Color Palettes

The Rose Quartz and Serenity combination mixes well with similar mid-tones such as muted purples and greens, soft blues and grays, rich browns, and most shades of yellow and pink. Check out the palette samples below.

Flower Pairings

Rose Quartz and Serenity will make the creation of fashionable flower arrangements easy-to-achieve this year, even for the novice designer.  After all, a complementary color is built right in! For those who have more experience in color theory and design, you will enjoy creating seemingly limitless color-of-the-year palettes for your work.

L-R: Serenity-hued Delphinium, Hyacinth, and Hydrangea

For example, you could pair light blue delphinium, hyacinth, hydrangea, and iris with Rose Quartz vases, table-runners, or bridesmaid's dresses.  Or, use the light pink and peach hues of our lilies to pair with any Serenity-hued background.

Peach-hued Eudoxia and Light Pink Party Diamond

Pink snapdragons and celosia will make excellent accent pieces, and wine-hued flowers (such as dahlias) will add dramatic contrast and focal points to any Rose Quartz and Serenity arrangement.

L-R: Dahlia, Snapdragon, Celosia

Another complementary color includes all shades yellow--look to use yellow and white matricaria, soft yellow ornithogalum, and, of course, the many warm hues of our tulips. 

Yellow Ornithogalum

Warm-hued Tulips

Looking forward to the summer season,  I cannot wait to see what designers start doing with hydrangea and even later, antique hydrangea--both hydrangeas' fresh and antique tones are the perfect accompaniment to the Pantone palette. 

Be creative and have fun with these versatile colors this year.  Look for the two colors in all materials and finishes, and add in silver, hot brights, or dark chocolate hues for heavier impact.  For more inspiration, check out some Rose Quartz and Serenity Wedding ideas here.

Rose-Quartz Brassica

But above all,let the blended, inspiration Colors of the Year fill you with tranquility, compassion, and mindfulness throughout 2016.

Happy New Year!

Floral "Jewel Tone" Primer

Floral "Jewel Tone" Primer

Asters delphinium Jewel Tones Lilies Pantone Sumatra lilies tango lilies

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

                                                -Albert Camus

Now that it is officially autumn, it’s time to dig into the hot colors of fall. The fashion world dictates the color schemes we will see from the runways in New York and Paris right down to the colors a bride requests for her fall wedding. The name of the game this season is “Jewel Tones.” Jewel tones are the rich, saturated colors associated with jewels, such as emeralds, rubies, amber and sapphires.  These tones aren’t the bright and shiny side of the precious stones, but the dark, warm interiors of the stones. According to the trend setters at Pantone, the jewel tone palette will be accented by neutrals, such as browns and taupe.

So let’s investigate the flowers and botanicals that represent jewel tones.

Sumatra is a jewel toned delight

In the lily department, the Sumatra Lily will be a stand out this fall. This beautiful Oriental is big and dark; the saturated colors will ensure that this lily will be the focal of many autumn floral events.  For our Royal Lilies, which is what we call our LA Hybrids, the Sunset Royal lily has all the warmth of a vibrant autumn sunset.  Sun Valley has the exclusive North American rights to grow this lily, and there will be big numbers coming to harvest every week.  The other lily to keep your eye on is Orange Art. This stunning lily is from the Tango Series, so it is part Asiatic and part LA Hybrid.  This is one of our lilies that the average consumer hasn’t experienced; the gorgeous contrasting hues make this a show-stopping fall lily.

Orange Art from the Tango Lily Series.

The ever popular Matsumoto Asters we grow are a natural match for the jewel tone theme. Purple, red and our hot pink fit the bill nicely.

Fall color Matsumoto Asters

 A flower that grows beautifully at our Oxnard farm that we don’t mention nearly enough is our Delphinium Sea Waltz, now this is a rich sapphire blue.

Delphinium Jewel Tones

One of my favorite items we grow on the farm is Ornamental Kale, often called Brassica.  J Schwanke from uBloom just completed a great video showing off our product. Have a look, the dark purples and emeralds of our brassica will be hot this autumn, so you need to see this video!

Not all jewel tones are necessarily dark; our gerberas are bright, yet saturated. Some varieties which will be hot this fall are: Maya, Shania, Carambole, Intensa and Malibu.  I recently took a walk through the Oxnard gerb greenhouse, the crop is looking pretty spectacular.  The colors are popping and the plants are looking very healthy.

Our Gerb greenhouse in Oxnard, CA

The last crop I need to mention to give you the inside track on jewel tones are our Fall Tulips. The great part of growing bulb crops is we can grow the color mix you need on demand.  We often say, “We grow it, when you need it.”  This is the epitome of our year round tulip program.  We keep the tulips in coolers just until we are ready for them to burst into action. The crop is carefully planned, so we grow the colors that any given season requires.  Its fall, so we have the oranges, yellows, red and bi-colors that will be the color splash in your autumn arrangements. The bulbs are from the Southern Hemisphere so they are “spring fresh”, which leads to the best quality and the best vase life.

Jewel tones are the theme of this season, and Sun Valley is growing just what you need.