Birthday
HydrangeasOn 24 August Ukraine celebrates Independence Day: on that day in 1991 the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. The day before, 23 August, is National Flag Day. A blue-and-yellow bouquet is a simple, beautiful way to congratulate loved ones and colleagues or decorate your home. Here is which flowers to use and which symbolic plants to add.
Blue-and-yellow bouquets: flower baskets and chrysanthemums.
Flowers in the colours of the flag
- Yellow: sunflowers, yellow roses, chrysanthemums, craspedia, solidago.
- Blue: delphinium, hydrangea, eryngium (sea holly), cornflowers, irises. Naturally blue flowers are few, so dyed ones are sometimes used — you can spot them by their unnaturally even colour.
- Greenery — eucalyptus, pittosporum, wheat ears.
Symbolic plants
- Wheat ears — bread, prosperity and peaceful skies over the fields.
- Guelder rose (kalyna) — one of Ukraine’s best-known symbols.
- Periwinkle — a symbol of memory and faithfulness.
- Sunflower — the sunny flower of Ukrainian fields.
More in Ukrainian plant symbols.
Styling ideas
- A kraft-wrapped bouquet with a ribbon in the flag’s colours.
- A wreath of wildflowers and wheat for a photo shoot or front door.
- A table arrangement of sunflowers in a basket.
- Flowers with an embroidered rushnyk or vyshyvanka.
FAQ
Which blue flowers are natural?
Delphinium, hydrangea, eryngium, cornflowers, irises, muscari. Blue roses and chrysanthemums are always dyed.
How long do sunflowers last in a vase?
About a week; change the water daily and recut the stems.
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Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
