A blue-and-yellow bouquet for Independence Day

On 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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To go with the bouquet, pick one of our Ukraine Independence Day wishes.

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.

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