Mono Bouquets in Bangalore

Mono bouquets in Bangalore: the chrysanthemum and one festive colour

Mono bouquets in Bangalore include a flower the city already knows from the street: chrysanthemum is traded at KR Market, Karnataka's largest flower market, beside jasmine, marigold, rose and tuberose. Of those five, chrysanthemum is the only one with its own section among the city's single-flower bunches. A bunch built from one flower leaves nothing to argue about except its colour, so colour comes first and the flower follows.

Chrysanthemums, a Karnataka market flower, given in yellow or pink

In Bengaluru, chrysanthemums are familiar from KR Market before they appear in bouquets. At KR Market, traders lay it out beside jasmine, marigold, rose and tuberose, and among mono bouquets in Bangalore it is the only one of those five with a whole section to itself.

Marigold, rose and jasmine are the flowers of Indian festivals, and a festive single-flower bunch works better in a bright colour than a pale one. Chrysanthemums come in yellow, orange and pink that suit that mood. White is the shade to leave out: white chrysanthemums, like white lilies and frangipani, are tied to funerals across India, so a single-variety bunch works best away from white altogether.

Cut chrysanthemums hold up well once home. A bunch stays in the vase for two to three weeks, though the leaves turn yellow before the flower does; stripping them as they go keeps the water clear and the bunch looking fresh for longer.

A desk gift among mono bouquets in Bangalore reads best without a strong scent and with colour that stays cheerful rather than loud; a bright, restrained single-flower bunch suits an office better than something showy. Gerberas do that job well: a Bunch of Gerberas is bright enough for a desk without turning into a showpiece.

Alstroemeria and dianthus, the carnation, keep the same two-to-three-week vase life as chrysanthemum, so a bunch set down on a Monday is still there the Monday after.

Getting a bunch to an office desk needs the company name and the floor; where the building runs a pass system, the bouquet is handed over through reception.

Lilies for a family visit read better in pink than in white, since white lilies carry the same funeral association as white chrysanthemums. Beyond colour, lilies carry a real risk in a house with a cat: every part of the plant, including the pollen and the water left in the vase, is toxic to cats, and even a small amount can cause serious harm.

Where a cat lives in the house, avoid lilies; hydrangea is a better single-flower format for the home. With large-headed flowers such as hydrangea, a few stems already read as a bouquet, and a Bunch of Pink Hydrangea needs only a handful to look full.

Handing either over works the same way: offer the bunch with the right hand or with both hands, and take the price tag off before it changes hands.

Chrysanthemum makes sense as the first pick for a bunch meant to outlast the week, and so does alstroemeria; pink lilies or hydrangea make more sense for a visit to a family home. Bangalore's calendar runs through several flower-heavy festival dates across the year, covered on the festival dates and flowers across the city page. Every mono bouquet here is put together to order, and the florist sends a photo of the finished bunch before the courier sets out; the time it takes shows on the bouquet's own page, and how delivery works covers the rest.