Written by: Yvonne Ashton
11/10/2011 11:05 AM 

It happens to the best of us . . . a favorite flower can quickly become an enemy or “frienemy”.  That seems to be the situation with white anemones right now.  Unfortunately, even though the price or supply of an item is out of budget or just not available you still need to make your client happy.  What is a florist to do?

Well, one of our creative Los Angeles floral sales professionals, Laura London, came up with a brilliant solution.  If you can’t buy/get it, create it!  Laura took a white Lisianthus and simply inserted a clipping of a burgundy Scabiosa.  You just need to make sure that the blooms are underdeveloped and therefore black.  And voila!  A great alternative to a white anemone! 

Here are some words from Laura and a better look into why Anemones can quickly become “fr-Anemones”:

“White Anemones - aka “Fr-enemies” - Why can’t we just be friends?

Something about that little black center surrounded by creamy white petals has become one of the most sought after flowers in the floral industry. Every bride wants them!  The anemone phenomenon has many people on the mad hunt in search of them …  Anemones are a beast of their own and that is why I called them “Enemies”.

Anemones are a seasonal item - their true season is typically in the colder months leading up to Spring (January thru May).  Once the warmer months hit we have to rely on importing from afar, which bares many risks. Agriculture restrictions, quality concerns and market pricing are 3 major factors to consider when bringing in Anemones by way of import. 

The price points of these little beasts can skyrocket and fluctuate immensely.  It’s a risk bringing in such a high priced item when it is unknown whether or not they will arrive alive, and then there comes quality concerns.  Think about it -this little bunch of fragile anemones are being grown afar, cut, packed, displayed at auction, inspected, repacked again and shipped across the countries abroad. They arrive to us at wholesale level and have to go through intense agriculture screening once again before being released for sale and that is IF they get released! On occasion agriculture will yank this item due to infestation of a parasite or some other potentially harmful bacteria.  This can wreck havoc on other flowers and spread to other things that could end up becoming invasive to local native product. 

With all this said. . . we have gone through many ups and downs when it comes to Anemones.  Although the good outweighs the bad.  When the bad does occur we are now ready with a back-up plan and that is to get creative and think outside the box!  There are so many ways to utilize other seasonal flowers to mimic the look of an anemone.  So don’t be afraid to get out the black sharpie marker to color in the green centers of a white mini gerbera, or recreate flowers out of flowers by taking a black Scabiosa bud and pushing it down into the center of a white Lisianthus!  Things may not always go our way in terms of getting exactly what we want but with a little creative thinking anything can be achieved! Get creative and have fun! 

In the end, if you can’t be my friend… please don’t be my fr-Anemone!

Have you tried this before?  Any other creative ideas in creating “mock” flower varieties?