Hipsters aren’t known only for vintage clothing, handlebar mustaches, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and avocado toast. A significant part of this counter-culture is an awareness of the environment and pro-green and Earth-friendly lifestyle choices.
Flowers for Hipsters: Plants and Flowers for True Hipsters
Whether you’re a hipster planning a wedding and need ideas for flowers, or you want to cultivate flowers or plants in a garden or for indoor plants, we’ve rounded up the top hipster flowers and plants for any occasion.
Protea
If you’ve seen a giant flower in arrangements or bridal bouquets in recent years that looks like a spiky, almost alien species, it might be a protea. The protea flower isn’t new, but it’s been trendy in the past five years or so in bohemian flower displays as well as hipster weddings.
Protea blossoms are usually spikey with an abundance of perianth segments and limbs (spikes coming out of the center), and they often have a substantial center or pistil. Much like a sunflower, the protea is a large, hardy flower that tends to be the focal point in an arrangement. Their petals can be much more robust and sturdier than a typical flower.
Protea is native of South Africa, but roughly 20 countries now cultivate these blooms. Growing these hardy bushes can be challenging, so these are better as flowers to order in a bouquet that needs a hipster appeal.
If you want a modern, bold, yet still counter-culture flower in a hipster bridal bouquet or an arrangement for an event, proteas are the way to go. They give a wild, alternative, natural look to any flower display while still offering a modern feel.
Wildflower Blends
Not every hipster wants to live like they’re straight out of the 1880s, but many do love the pioneering aesthetic. Where blooms are concerned, what says Old West pioneer days more than wildflowers?
Whether you want to spread a wildflower seed mix into a garden for a natural, boho look, or you are trying to find a hipster-appropriate bouquet from a florist, aim for the most natural-looking blossoms.
At flower shops, you can often mix flowers, and there are a lot of common blooms that offer a wildflower appearance. Ask a florist about anemone, aster, delphinium or larkspur, heather, lisianthus, monte cassino aster, Queen Anne’s lace, and wax flowers.
Most flower shops will be able to supply you with at least some of these wildflower-looking blooms.
Daisies and Black-Eyed Susan
There is something iconic about daisies when it comes to counter-culture. Blame it on the hippies back in the ‘60s if you will. The core idea of “flower power” still resonates with a lot of hipster culture: being concerned about environmental sustainability, natural living, and progressive attitudes.
We think the black-eyed Susan is a more updated, hipster version of the daisy, and melds the floral look of two different vintage vibes. In the ‘60s, daisies were a popular flower, while in the 1990s, sunflowers were huge. If you’ve paid any attention lately, the ‘90s are everything right now.
So, the black-eyed Susan has the delicate body of a daisy with the coloring that ‘90s-aesthetic sunflower. They bloom in late summer to early autumn, so we love these for hipsters with flowering gardens who need a pop of color after July is gone, but before mums are everywhere.
The classic daisy is always a safe choice, but we also love the black-eyed Susan for an updated flower power choice that speaks more to this century.
daisies black-eyed susan
The Black-Eyed Susan is popularly chosen to attract beneficial insects to the garden, such as butterflies, bumblebees, ladybugs and even hummingbirds as well. The blooms spread open to a diameter of about 2 or 3 inches wide.
Succulents
Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last five years or never looked at Pinterest, you probably know that succulents are a popular choice for a lot of hipsters when growing indoor plants. In some gardens, succulents are also a fantastic choice to offer an organic, modern, but also exceptionally well-done landscape design.
Many succulents blossom, surprising you with occasional flowers, but can be less work to keep alive than some indoor plants. Hen and chicks are an excellent choice for outdoor gardens, and they can blossom with pretty pink flowers.
Indoors, aloe vera plants are not only low maintenance but practical to have on-hand. Many hipsters like the idea of using more natural methods to heal the body and stalks of aloe can be broken off, opened, and applied to burns and cuts to aid in healing.
Not to mention, if you’ve been to Whole Foods anytime and looked at their bottled beverages, you’ll find aloe vera juice that’s been strained to be drinkable and is said to be good for the gut.
succulent plants
These succulents don't require fertilizer and can be planted in a decorative pot of your choice within seconds. It is more appealing than artificial plastic or fake faux plants, and care is a cinch.
Monstera deliciosa (Fruit Salad Plant)
This tropical species is also known as a “Swiss cheese plant” but also referred to as the fruit salad plant. Plus, there is something about the name fruit salad plant that screams hipster to us.
Its Latin name means “monstrous delicious” because these babies can grow huge, and they produce delicious fruit. The fruit looks similar to an ear of corn, only in a green shade with hexagonal “scales” on the outside.
Fruit Salad Plants are safe for human consumption and have a flavor similar to a blend of pineapple and banana flavor.
This tropical beauty will grow to a massive size when it has the proper space. It can also be potted indoors if you have bright light and warm temperatures (between roughly 68 and 86 °F).
We like this flowering, fruit-bearing plants because it evokes some of the vintage wallpaper patterns favored by hipsters, such as tropical leaf wallpaper and retro leaf-pattern Hawaiian shirts. Vibes, am I right?
tropical palm leaf green peel and stick wallpaper
100 percent removable peel and stick wallpaper. Superior strength and properties to regular contact paper (thicker and leaves no sticky residue behind). Perfect for both renters and homeowners.
Marigolds
We added marigolds to the list for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is something about marigold flowers that is so vintage/grandma’s garden to us.
Secondly, lots of hipster love growing gardens if they have space, and marigold flowers cultivated near plants such as tomatoes can help prevent pests, such as worms. Marigolds are also known for repelling mosquitoes, aphids, and whiteflies.
Third, if you avoid using pesticides on marigolds, the petals are edible! If you love to add floral notes to your cooking recipes, marigold petals complement almost any dish. You can use them in a salad, or in any rich meals and make a fantastic addition to any cuisine.
french marigold sparky mix seeds
This Marigold mixture adds fiery color to the summer garden with bold reds, oranges and yellows. Growing to be only 12-14” tall, this mixture is great for the border of meadows, a small space garden or containers. Marigold Sparky Mix is so easy to grow that it is the perfect choice for a child’s first garden.
Roses
Before you throw your hands up in disgust and think to yourself, roses are too typical, allow us to explain.
We’re not just talking about hot house bouquets of red roses by the dozen. Although if you present them in like an old-school box of roses circa 1985, you might be onto something.
Is there a single flower that strikes you as more vintage than a rose? Not only are they beautiful, but they come in many varieties. These options allow you to find can find roses that appear more unusual or traditional.
For a hipster vibe, we like rambling roses because of their more natural, unkempt garden look, as well as bourbon roses because they bridge the appearance of a rose and a peony (and hey, the name suits a lot of hipsters, too).
Bourbon roses look like the kind of flower that would adorn a retro wallpaper but don’t stand out as a tiresome rose at first glance. Some alba and gallica roses have this look, too.
Tea and miniature roses are one of our favorites for hipsters, though. These roses are usually tiny, can come in “sprays” with several blooms on one stalk. This creates that dust bowl chic vibe that we love. Mix some miniature roses in with wildflowers, and you’ll have yourself a boho, vintage bouquet.
Baby’s Breath
If we had to pick one of the top hipster flowers, baby’s breath (gypsophila) would be a contender for the top spot. Why would this cheap “filler” flower, as florists call it, make our list? For the same reason that Pabst Blue Ribbon became such a popular beer among hipsters: it was looked down on before this counter-culture group embraced it.
There is something so simplistic about baby’s breath, and while it used to fill in gaps between bouquets of red roses, it’s now being used more and more as a stand-alone blossom in flower crowns, bouquets, boutonnieres, and mason jar centerpieces.
Baby’s breath is also extremely affordable. Even at florists, you can get a bouquet of these tiny white flowers for less than most other blooms.
There are so many blossoms on one sprig of baby’s breath that they easily take up space. This is often why it's used as a filler flower.
The only other flower we can think of that would buck the traditional ideals of expensive and elegant flowers as much as baby’s breath would be carnations. So, throw together some carnations and baby’s breath, and you’ve got yourself an ironic (but pretty and longer-lasting) bouquet.
Conclusion
If you want flowers but don’t want the typical, ritzy choices, there are other affordable and stylish options out there. You can find some cheaper blooms with a stylish feel, or even ones that have dual purposes like edibility or health benefits. For the most hipster flowers of all, pick traditionally unpopular choices. That’s the way of the hipster, after all. Underdog blossoms deserve love, too.