Pantone’s latest color of the year has long been popular with brides around the country, including a recent one of McNamara Florist in Indianapolis.
Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz (Pantone 13-1023), exudes comfort and peace — and perfectly matches a shade that floral designers and their customers have long embraced.
“An idea as much as a feeling, Peach Fuzz awakens our senses to the comforting presence of tactility and cocooned warmth,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, which announced the selection Thursday, Dec. 7. “Poetic and romantic, a clean peach tone with a vintage vibe, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz reflects the past yet has been refashioned with a contemporary ambiance.”
The annual color selection — a tradition since 2000 — reflects months of research into color influences, which include fashion, art, technology, the entertainment industry, and popular travel destinations, as well as cultural stimuli, such as political events and socio-economic conditions.
“I was not surprised by this choice of color for 2024,” says Arizona-based designer, educator, and consultant Joyce Mason Monheim, AAF, AIFD, AzMF, PFCI. “Peach has been a subtle and subdued color in the background these last few years in many color collaborations. Seeing it pop forward makes a lot of sense. It also inspires comfort and connection, which is what our social environment needs right now.”
Mason Monheim especially likes the color’s name. “You automatically visualize a tactile impression when you read Peach Fuzz,” she says. Dahlias were the first flowers that came to mind with Pantone’s announcement, but she quickly thought of many more, from sleek anthuriums to bushy grevillea.
“For the first time, we are ahead of the trend,” says Andreia Boscato Muller, AIFD, FSMD, owner of The Flower Studio in Oxford, Florida. “Peach is really the new blush.” Among her favorite peach flowers: stock, dianthus, hypericum berries, and roses (‘Tiffany’ and ‘Shimmer’ in particular).
Peach has dominated brides’ requests for the better part of a decade, say florists throughout the country.
“I buy peach flowers constantly,” said Lani Callister, AAF, of Ensign Wholesale Floral in Salt Lake City, Utah, while judging a recent Society of American Florists’ Outstanding Varieties Competition. “It is always in demand.”
In Sedgwick, Maine, Vince Butera, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, of Butera the Florist, often pairs peach with soft blue additions, such as tweedia, hydrangea, or delphinium, for a coastal vibe. “It’s been wildly popular for some years,” he says, adding that peach is an exciting shade for artists, as it brims with possibilities. “It is soft and romantic on its own or blending with blush, or it can be a soft juxtaposition next to deeper, bold colors, such as magenta, burgundy, rusts or yellows.”
Derek Woodruff, AIFD, CF, of Floral Underground in Traverse City, Michigan, called the color choice “spot on,” and echoed Butera’s comment on versatility.
“Peach looks great with blush, brown, terracotta and warm metallics. It looks great with white. It looks great with cool complimentary and analogous colors like blue, purple and green,” Woodruff says. “It’s such a versatile color that can be used for all sorts of work — events, every day, sympathy, you name it!”
Peach Fuzz has Jaclyn Pline, CFD, owner of The Skinny Vase in Raleigh, North Carolina, dreaming of Japanese lisianthus, double stock, and cabbage-shaped garden roses, accented with gold vessels and candle elements. “Or, if you step out of your comfort zone, blending purple and peach is a fun color punch,” she says.
At City Line Florist in Trumbull, Connecticut, peach reigns supreme, says marketing director Nicole Palazzo, AAF, who pointed to ‘Free Spirit’ and ‘Kahala’ as the shop’s best-selling roses. This holiday season, they pitched a new arrangement, “Winter Peachy Woodland,” which pairs peach roses and carnations with mini green hydrangeas, evergreens and pinecones. “Low and behold, it’s our most popular Christmas arrangement!”
Wendy Rockcastle, co-owner of Rockcastle Florist in Rochester, New York, also incorporated peach into her Christmas offerings this year, pairing it with burgundy, magenta, cream, and light green. “I’m loving Peach Fuzz and had already worked it into our product mix without knowing it would be the Color of the Year,” she says. “It’s right on point with Talmage McLaurin’s trend forecast presentation at SAF’s convention this year.”
Katie Vincent is a senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.
