Did you ever think of these flowers for garlands for Krishna?
Whether you are new to making Krishna flower garlands, or a seasoned professional, you may never have considered these flowers!
- Agapanthus
- Azalea
- Blue Ginger
- Crepe Myrtle
- Geisha Girl
- Grevillia
- Ginger Flower Buds
- Hydrangea
- Inoxa
- Jacaranda
This list is skewed to Australia, as that’s my mainframe of reference!
Agapanthas
What a rich bluish purple color! Agapanthas have surely waved happily at you from the landscaping of your neighbours!
For a long time it did not occur to me to try garlands with these flowers. As they have no scent, it’s nice to mix the flowers with a scented flower – gardenias make a beautiful addition, and are in bloom at the same season, as are frangipani.
Azaleas – delicate ruffles
Stunning! I was stunned and awed the first time I saw a garland from azaleas. You might have seen them threaded around and around, but have you ever seen a garland of ruffled azaleas threaded straight through the stem? They look like threaded fairy skirts! So adorable. You have to try this at least one time.
I searched and searched, but couldn’t find the one or two photos I have of garlands with azaleas in them! Here’s a photo of my altar instead, with azalea flowers in vases! This was when I first installed my Sri Vanvihari Krishna deity.
Blue Ginger
These beautiful strongly colored flowery buds are worth seeking out and planting! They seem to thrive on neglect in the ground and are fine in a shaded side alley. The flowers are charming for garlands on small deity forms of Krishna.
You might need to look at the flowers ON the plant to be able to identify them – this seems like the best reference image I could find online:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/blue-ginger/growing-blue-ginger-plants.htm
Crepe Myrtle
Soft and delicate ruffles, these flowers are best to offer to your smaller deities. Mix them with a fragrant flower for delicate scent.
Crepe Myrtle come in shades of peach, pink, red, white and purple. They are small and timeconsumingly fiddly as the flowers are so delicate, but you can see the heavenly effect they create with their cloud like appearance. Perfect for a flower garland for tiny Krishna deities!
Ginger Flowers like Lotus Buds
Ginger flowers come in a variety of different shapes and sizes.
You may have commonly seen these ginger flowers threaded up in both Hawaii and Philippines with their spidery flower petals and the way they are woven is totally amazing – but! There is another type that grows locally and they are so beautiful!
When you thread them up they look very much like lotus buds! Perfect for a smaller or medium sized deity of Krishna.
They contain a lot of water so when you are threading them up it’s nice to leave them for a little before you offer to the Lord… unless it’s a hot day and He would enjoy some refreshingly moist garland offerings!
Geisha Girl – Duranta Repens – Verbena variety
The intoxicating smell of the vanilla fragrance Geisha Girl flower mixed with Krishnas personal fragrance must be a heavenly aroma to make the bumble bees drunk and swooning staggering through the air on drunken paths!
These tiny little flowers grow prolifically. The garlands would not last all day out of the fridge but to prepare in advance are fine.
Grevillia
No, please don’t thread in a whole clonking flower! My artistic friend Nadia recently made garlands for Krishna and included little pieces of their delicate curling stamens! Mind – blown!
An Australian native flower, but I would expect it would also be grown in other parts of the world – it does well in our hot and dry climate.
Hydreangeas – flower clusters
How exquisite the colors of the hydrangea! These pretty flowers can be interspersed with others for fragrance and bring their delicate allure to Krishna’s flower garlands.
Ixora
This flower comes in some beautiful and vibrant colors, from coral, yellow, orange, red and even pink.
The little flowers make perfect garlands for smaller deities too. You can readily pick the flower heads which grow in clusters locally and are often used as bush landscaping where I live.
Jacaranda flowers
These beautiful blooms have such a nice fragrance! It’s difficult to describe, but maybe musk comes close. When they are massed you can smell the perfume more strongly.
When I was blessed to harvest some last year I did a little tutorial of using them for garland making, and also offered my dear sweet Vanvihari Krishna a shringar that complimented them!
It can be hard to find a tree that is low growing enough to harvest their flowers, but it is utterly worth seeking them out, should you find some! Look for trees that are growing on a slope, or leverage your car and stretch!
Cut and offered in flower vases they will last up to 2 days.
For Good luck, there’s one extra flower garland idea – can you spot it? Honeysuckle in Krishna’s garland -You’re welcome!
Always Remember Krishna & Never Forget Krishna
Love, your friend, Sita