Learn all about Gerberas with Lily's Florist Dubbo.
Did you know that Gerberas are in the top five most popular cut flowers in the world? They’re part of the sunflower, daisy and aster family (Asteraceae) and originate from Transvaal in South Africa. The Gerbera was named after Traugott Gerber, a German botanist. These days it’s the domesticated cultivars, mostly a cross between Gerbera jamesonii and Gerbera viridifolia, that give us the incredible array of brilliant colours and variety of fascinating shapes. Another plus is that they last extremely well in the vase. It’s very easy to see why they are so popular.
Different flowers carry different meanings in the language of flowers. Gerberas take their meanings from daisies in general, which are innocence, purity and beauty. Gerberas in particular also mean cheerfulness; that’s because of the wonderful, vivid colours the hybrids now offer. Originally mostly pale orange and salmon colours with narrow petals, these trendy modern Gerberas can have broad petals in colours from white, cream, shades of yellow from light to deep gold, peach, orange, pink hues from pale to scarlet, magenta, fuschia and rich red. One flower can have a number of different coloured petals and some have black centres.
Gerberas are available in many forms according to The Flower Expert. The most common are the single flowers in that they have a single row of petals that don’t overlap and have a green centre. They also come in double (or duplex) form with two rows of overlapping petals and an eye (or centre) in dark red, black or green. Then there are crested doubles which have one or more inner rows of shorter petals. The full crested doubles have an inner row that gets smaller and covers the eye of the bloom completely.
The flowers usually measure around 17 cms across for the smaller varieties and up to 12 cms in diameter for larger varieties. The centre eye is actually the capitulum and is composed of hundreds of individual flowers in a cluster. The new varieties cloned through tissue culture aren’t light sensitive so they’ll stay open in darker areas which is great for indoor displays. There are also more compact forms available for those who like growing flowers in pots. Gerberas are perennials.
It’s not only we humans that love Gerberas; bees, butterflies and birds are attracted to them too. Gerberas bring a natural outdoors feeling into our homes and offices. Given enough water and handled properly so that they don’t bruise, they should stay fresh for over a week in the vase. The flowers do like to face the light and may turn a little towards it.
Florists love Gerberas for the inspiring range of colours and stunning forms they bring to an arrangement, because they work beautifully with other flowers and foliage, and for their keeping qualities and versatility. They are becoming a popular choice for wedding bouquets and venue displays too. There are some interesting ideas about using Gerberas for weddings that you might want to talk to Lily’s Florist Dubbo about if you are planning one, or visit our Weddings page.
