In 2021, the House & Garden office began to notice something cropping up in the houses featured in our magazine. This thing was on windowsills, bedside tables, kitchen sides and in hallways. It was in dark corners and bright spots. It required little to no maintenance and yet brought all the joy of the real thing. It was, of course, the artificial flower.
Whilst artificial flowers have existed for centuries – they can be traced back to both Roman and ancient Egyptian civilisations, when people made wreaths and decorations out of horn, gold and silver – they are certainly having a bit of a moment, and paper, rather than silk or precious metal, has become the medium du jour. The other key difference? Instead of single silk stems arranged in a vase, the artificial flowers we're seeing today are most commonly potted plants like foxgloves, hollyhocks and geraniums.
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Charlotte Hepworth, a world-class paper flower artist, has also noticed a post-pandemic surge in interest. ‘I think there’s been a real appreciation and new found interest in paper flowers. When I started out nearly 40 years ago the craft was very rare and I had little competition. When I came back to it after raising my daughter I was amazed to find so much interest in the craft and so many people making them all over the world.' Charlotte notes that her most popular flowers are geraniums, poppies and auricula, snowdrops and primroses.
Contributing writer Eleanor Cording-Booth has also noted increasing interest in artificial flowers. She remarks that, ‘although paper geraniums have been gracing the tabletops of John Derian’s New York stores for years, it’s much more recently that they’ve made the journey across the pond to be stocked in The Conran Shop and Cutter Brooks. It’s understandable that we should fill our homes with paper greenery considering the lack of sunlight in British wintertime.’
Endlessly practical, it's not just their looks that are attracting people to paper flowers. As former House & Garden editor, Hatta Byng, writes, ‘My mother was a florist and flowers have always been a big part of making home for me, but they are also hard work. Arranging freshly cut flowers and branches causes mess, discarding old flowers causes yet more. I have been nurturing geraniums and various other house plants, some more successfully than others. Paper flowers caught my eye as they are not only a work of art in themselves but they are fuss free.’
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Then there's the fact that you can place paper plants where they look best, without making concessions for the amount of light they require. In the above Notting Hill flat by Natasha Quick, a paper geranium introduces a hint of red into the blue and pale wood scheme. Here, the potted paper flower is a clever way to add depth to a more pared back scheme without a large commitment. Note how it sits behind the curtain, in a shaded spot where a real geranium might struggle. Below, in the bathroom of Virginia White's Hampstead mansion flat, another paper geranium brightens up another shaded spot.
Paper flowers are also a perfect addition to a guest bedroom. Instead of replacing droopy blooms week in week out in case of a surprise visitor, a paper plant is always on hand to welcome guests. In Virginia White's spare bedroom, seen below, the potted plant stands cheerfully on the bedside table.
As Charlotte Hepworth points out, paper flowers also make wonderful gifts. ‘They are perfect because they last forever and don’t fade. I have customers who have had theirs for over 30 years and they are still going strong.' Fact is, they also make good presents for someone experiencing loss and grief, as there's no maintenance, or clean up to be responsible for.
All that's missing is the perfume of real flowers, but fret not, all you need is a scented candle with a green top note and you're away.
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