Pantone’s 2023 Color of the Year, Viva Magenta (Pantone 18-1750), exudes confidence and enthusiasm — and brims with possibility in the creative hands of floral professionals.

“Viva Magenta is brave and fearless,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, which announced the selection Thursday, Dec. 1. “It is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint—an electrifying and boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement.”

The annual color selection — a tradition since 2000 — reflects months of research into color influences, which include fashion, art, technology, the entertainment industry, and popular travel destinations, as well as cultural stimuli, such as political events and socio-economic conditions.

“It is intense and transformative, just like our culture. Not pink. Not red. Not purple,” says Jodi Duncan, AIFD, PFCI, a freelance designer and consultant in Evansville, Indiana. “Magenta is an interesting tension with tremendous possibilities.”

Duncan immediately thought of cockscomb celosia when she saw Viva Magenta. “The velvet, deep richness just pulls me in,” she says. She’s eager to pair it with pinks and purples and brown accents such as magnolia leaves, branches, barks, and mosses.

While the color is a natural choice for Christmas and Valentine’s Day designs, it has year-round application. For spring and summer, Duncan recommends mixing it with aqua and navy. “That is a crisp combination,” she says, adding that, “to understand where Viva Magenta can really go, one need to look no further than Lilly Pulitzer. The way those fabrics embrace color has incredible energy.”

Walter Fedyshyn, AIFD, PFCI, a freelance designer, instructor, and consultant in Chicago, delighted in the selection, thinking of the numerous flowers available in this shade. Among them: roses, orchids, carnations, ‘Stargazer’ lilies, and antique hydrangeas. “To really complement it, I would pair Viva Magenta with green button mums, green succulents and dianthus, or fresh green foliage,” he says. “This will help carry such a deep color into spring and summer.”

On the heels of the more understated shades chosen recently, such as Veri Peri (Pantone 17-3938), Ultimate Gray (Pantone 17-5104) and Classic Blue (Pantone 19-4052), Viva Magenta strikes a bold departure.

“When I first saw the color as it was unveiled, I was surprised. The past few years have been so neutral,” says Renee Tucci, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, a freelance designer, educator and consultant based in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. “Upon reflection, I couldn’t help but think of the hot pink fashion trends from 2022 and of our collective need to change direction from the past three years. The move to a bold color feels like permission to do just that!”

Tucci is eager to incorporate Viva Magenta in monochromatic designs with medium and pale shades of pink, as well as in analogous palettes with oranges, yellows, and greens.

For Derek Woodruff, AIFD, CF, PFCI, owner of Floral Underground in Traverse City, Michigan, Pantone’s announcement immediately called to mind the 2023 Flowers Trend Forecast  Talmage McLaurin, AIFD, presented at the Society of American Florists’ convention in September. “Three out of the six palettes Talmage showcased highlighted a red close to this color,” he says. “He and Pantone are definitely spot on with consumer trends.”

Rochester, New York florist Wendy Rockcastle, co-owner of Rockcastle Florist, also attended McLaurin’s program and created shop specials inspired by his trends. “Several of them include this exact color,” she says. “It will definitely be a feature for Valentine’s Day too!”

Viva Magenta reminds Woodruff of numerous roses, as well as dogwood branches, hypericum berries, copper beech foliage, and mini cala lilies. “It’s a versatile color that can enhance many different palettes,” he says. “It can easily be added to peaches, blushes and neutrals; sage greens and reds; pale, smokey lavenders and blue greens; and monochromatically.”

In recent years, Woodruff has observed a new consumer trend of choosing “fall colors” year-round in floral designs. “This first started in wedding and event work a couple seasons ago and, as we all know, those trends tend to trickle down into everyday floral,” he says. “Viva Magenta is an excellent, viable color for that exact trend.”

Arizona-based designer, educator, and consultant Joyce Mason Monheim, AAF, AIFD, AzMF, PFCI, saw Viva Magenta as a response to consumer concern for the environment and ecological landscape.

“I feel its variation of red has blended with the earth tone influence we have been these past few seasons and nature’s influence of natural cochineal dye used for so many decades,” she says. “For the southwest, this really hits home.”

As a designer, Mason Monheim appreciates Viva Magenta’s adaptability. “The tone fluctuates and appears as a red that has a touch of blue and purple influence that blends into a burgundy, but can also lean towards pink, giving it a more youthful appearance,” she says. “It’s the perfect balance between warm and cool palettes.”

Katie Vincent is the senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.