Cloud Dancer and Why White Will Always Have a Place on Our Flower Farm

Pantone released its new Color of the Year and this time it is Cloud Dancer, a soft shade of white. The internet had feelings about it. Plenty of people said white is not a real color or that it felt like an odd choice for something meant to inspire a new year. I get where the reactions come from, but as a flower grower, white is very much a color in my world. It is one we grow often and one our customers ask for again and again.

White in the field

White dahlias are some of our top sellers every summer. Our weekly wholesale buyers reach for them first and many of our Curated Bloom Bucket requests feature white. There is something about that clean bright center in a bouquet that makes everything else around it shine a little more.

Next year our field will hold more white lisianthus than any other color. It is the workhorse of event work. It layers well with every palette from soft romantic designs to modern garden style. When the blooms open in the field they look almost cloud like which makes Pantones choice feel a little fitting.

We also rely on white cosmos and white phlox throughout the summer. Both bring softness and movement to bouquets along with that quiet brightness only white can offer.

The challenge of growing white

White flowers are stunning but they can be a little unforgiving. Any browning shows up fast. Timing the harvest matters because the crisp clean look is a big part of their charm. When we get it right they feel almost luminous. They bring a calm balance to mixed bouquets that no other color can replicate.

Why white never goes out of style

White will always be a classic in the wedding world. It reads timeless. It pairs with every green and every blush and every deeper color a couple may choose.

So while Cloud Dancer might not have thrilled everyone on the internet it fits right in with the work we do here in southwest Michigan. White blooms fill our buckets every summer and I am expecting this season to be no different. There is nothing boring about a flower that can look this fresh and this elegant in any setting.