What’s next in floral design? According to J. Keith White AIFD, the answer lies in understanding not only flowers, but also color, texture, fashion, consumer behavior, sustainability, and the way people express themselves.

Keith White is a respected floral designer, educator, and trendwatcher within the floral industry. Known for his extraordinary design talent, Keith was honored by the American Institute of Floral Designers with its Distinguished Service to the Floral Industry Award in 2023. A former World Cup competitor, he now serves as the Creative Director, publisher, and spokesperson for American Floral Trends® (AFT).

Photo: www.americanfloraltrends.com

In a recent How We Bloom podcast, Keith shared an inside look at the latest American Floral Trends® and discussed how floral professionals can use trend information as inspiration, and also as a practical business tool.

What Is American Floral Trends®?

American Floral Trends® (AFT) is a collaborative trend-forecasting program designed specifically for the floral industry. Rather than focusing on a single “flower of the year” or “color of the year,” AFT develops five distinct trend stories, each with its own coordinated color palette.

The trends are created for a two-year cycle and are intended to give floral professionals an early look at the colors, materials, textures, and design directions emerging in the marketplace.

The research begins with a global perspective that is refined through the collaboration of floral industry leaders, designers, product developers, and color experts. Just to mention a few, Accent Decor is a leading contributor of on-trend vessels. Design Master color sprays play an important role since their paints were developed specifically for the floral industry. Smithers-Oasis North America provides quality floral foam products that offer mechanical stability for flower designs.

The result is more than pretty color combinations. The palettes are designed to be practical and usable. One color can inspire a monochromatic design, while all five colors within a trend can be combined to create a more complex floral expression.

Just as importantly, AFT considers what is actually available to florists. Keith emphasizes that “a trend is most useful when designers can find the flowers, containers, accessories, and materials needed to bring it to life.”

Trends Are About More Than Color

Keith encourages florists to look beyond color and consider how containers, ribbons, textiles, tabletop elements, papers, and other materials contribute to an overall design story. “One of the most interesting themes emerging is the increasing importance of texture” suggests Keith.

Fashion plays an important role in this research. Floral trends often reflect what consumers are already beginning to see in clothing, interiors, accessories, and tabletop design. The goal is to introduce these ideas to the floral marketplace early enough that designers can incorporate them into their work as consumers become familiar with them.

For the current trend cycle, Keith points to the strong presence of black, white, and gray in fashion, along with a renewed interest in red - Cranberry, Carnation, and Holiday among others. Red can appear dramatically as a major color or more subtly as an accent - a stitch, accessory, flower, or small detail that brings energy to an otherwise restrained palette.

Warm brown tones are also important. Keith describes brown as “the new black,” while suggesting that florists think of it in more sensory terms - Cocoa, Chocolate, or other rich, sumptuous descriptions - rather than simply calling something brown.

These warmer neutrals can change the feeling of an arrangement, especially when paired with ivory, white, soft pink, or other restrained colors.

Five Trends for Floral Design

The current American Floral Trends® collection includes five distinct directions: Transform, Trust, Envision, Discover, and Aspire.

Photo: www.americanfloraltrends.com

Transform

Transform explores a richer, more dramatic color story. Purple, orange, blue-violet, and touches of red create a palette that feels like an evolution from the blue-and-purple ombré combinations that have been popular in recent years.

The combination of orange with purple and blue-violet offers both warmth and stability, while the addition of red creates a dramatic shift. Florists can use all five colors or select just a few to create their own interpretation.

“The emphasis is not on following a formula, but on understanding how color relationships can change the emotional character of a design,” says Keith.

Photo: www.americanfloraltrends.com

Trust

Trust moves toward a quieter, more understated expression of color. Rather than overwhelming the viewer with intense combinations, the palette can be interpreted through subtle tones and sophisticated color relationships.

This makes Trust particularly adaptable for designers who want to introduce color into calmer environments like sympathy designs. It can also work beautifully for weddings, events, and everyday floral work where the goal is elegance rather than visual overstimulation.

Photo: www.americanfloraltrends.com

Envision

Envision is described as a painterly palette. Although it incorporates pastels, these are sophisticated pastels rather than overly sweet or predictable combinations.

The palette invites designers to think like painters, layering colors and exploring subtle variations. Keith also points to the possibilities of using floral paint to alter or enhance color, texture, and form.

Photo: www.americanfloraltrends.com

Discover

Discover brings an organic quality to the collection. Greens play an important role, including colors such as Basil and Olive Bright.

Olive Bright can move in several directions, from retro to contemporary, while remaining grounded in an organic feeling. Discover also connects naturally with tabletop design, natural materials, textiles, and the growing interest in bringing elements of the outdoors into interiors.

This is a palette that can be interpreted in a very natural way - or elevated into something sophisticated and elegant.

Photo: www.americanfloraltrends.com

Aspire

If Discover is organic and grounded, Aspire turns up the volume.

Keith compares Aspire to walking through a colorful farmers market or produce section. “Think lemons, tomatoes, papaya, guava, strawberries, blueberries, and other vibrant colors appearing together in unexpected combinations.”

Coral Bright is one example of the possibilities within this palette. Depending on the floral material, it can move toward tomato red, guava, papaya, or another variation.

This is an important concept within all of the AFT trends: flowers rarely have completely flat color. A single stem can contain multiple shades, tones, and degrees of luminosity. Designers can use those natural variations to create more sophisticated combinations.

A Guide, Not a Rulebook

Perhaps one of the most valuable messages is that floral trends are not meant to dictate a single style.

The goal of trend forecasting is to look outward - to understand broader consumer preferences and interpret those ideas in your floral business. AFT provides a roadmap that allows designers to respond uniquely to their customers, regions, events, and creative preferences.

A florist might use all five colors in a palette, or select three. A designer might take the color story and interpret it differently through their mix of flowers, containers, tabletop pieces, ribbons, or other materials. “That flexibility is especially important as consumers increasingly look for self-expression and personalization,” Keith adds.

Turning Trends into Business Opportunities

Trend forecasting can also help floral businesses become more intentional about merchandising and pricing.

New colors and materials give customers a reason to purchase something they have not seen before. Just as consumers visit a clothing store looking for something new, rather than something they already own, flower shops can use trend information to introduce fresh experiences.

AFT trend palettes can also inspire elevated product offerings. Designers can create everyday arrangements at familiar price points while also developing more sophisticated designs using premium flowers, specialty materials, and elevated containers of a greater expense.

A Collaborative Vision

Keith emphasizes that American Floral Trends® is a collaborative effort. Select designers and industry professionals invest their expertise in color, texture, sustainability, mechanics, product development, textiles, and floral design collectively.

Among the contributors mentioned in the podcast are Laura Dowling, Hitomi Gilliam, Leopoldo Gomez, Charlie Groppetti, Sarah Bagle, Donna Stevens, Kelly Mace, and Gretchen Sell.

Keith describes his role as bringing this talented group together and serving as the creative director, publisher, and spokesperson for AFT.

The diversity of that collaboration is ultimately what makes the trends useful: they represent many perspectives rather than one designer's personal aesthetic.

Looking Ahead

The American Floral Trends® collection offers floral professionals a way to look ahead rather than simply react to what is already in the marketplace.

Its five trend stories—Transform, Trust, Envision, Discover, and Aspire - share larger themes of innovation, sustainability, textural richness, emotional expression, and the desire for something fresh.

For florists, the real opportunity is not simply to copy a trend. It is to understand the story behind the trend, experiment with the colors and materials, and translate that information into designs that feel personal, relevant, and sellable in your floral business.

As Keith says, “the information is there to be used. It can help florists know what to look for at market, what products to consider, how to build seasonal collections, and how to keep their work fresh.”

The future of floral design isn't about following one formula. It's about knowing your market, understanding your customer, and sourcing materials that create something beautiful to meet their needs.

How can you use these five floral trends as inspiration in your floral business?