Sullivan Owen: Update your flower power

With a natural eye for design and a wedding to plan, Sullivan Owen became interested in floral arranging when she was a bride with an aversion to the typical overdone, baby’s breath-laden centerpiece. Now, with her own floral and event design studio in Queen Village, she’s helping others make special days — from weddings to dinner parties — look fresh and modern.

The University of the Arts grad and Urban Outfitters alum shared three floral trends that we don’t see wilting:

Keep it natural: “People are turning away from fussy arrangements and want to let the flowers be flowers, not forcing them into anything unnatural,” she says. “We’re using a lot of West Coast ferns right now that look like they came right out of the forest.”

Vintage is fresh: “Just like there’s a throwback to heirloom vegetables and the farm-to-table movement, there’s a throwback to heirloom and old-fashioned roses: spray roses, garden roses, hydrangeas — anything that creates a vintage look.”

Pick the peony: “Going into spring, the peony is really popular — I call it the Queen Bee of flowers,” says Owen of the ever-popular bloom. “It’s always been hard to say no to the peony — it’s so fluffy and sweet.”

Follow Monica Weymouth on Twitter at @MonicaatMetro.