Preserved flower materials · Kunming, Yunnan
Preserved gypsophila — sprays, colour and shed
Across a 16-shade stock palette plus 6 bleached-and-dyed tints (as of October 2026), VivaPetal supplies preserved gypsophila from Kunming, Yunnan in 50 g bunches of 25–35 cm sprays, with 200 g bulk bags for volume work. It is bought as a whole spray rather than as individual flowers, it is graded on stem count and spread rather than bloom size, and it sheds a little on first handling — three facts that between them cause most of the misunderstandings on a first order.
The material
You are buying a spray, not a flower
Gypsophila grows as a branching panicle — one main stem dividing into many fine branchlets, each carrying a cloud of very small flowers. A single flower is not a meaningful unit of trade. What you buy is the whole spray, stabilised intact, and the questions that matter are how many branches it carries, how far it spreads, and how evenly the cloud is filled.
That structure is what makes the material useful. The tiny flowers sit on extremely fine stems, so the spray behaves almost like a translucent mass rather than a collection of parts — it fills negative space without adding visual weight. It is also why gypsophila cannot be specified the way a rose is specified:
Colour
Natural white or tinted is a colour decision, not a grade decision
The one mistake worth avoiding here is treating tinted gypsophila as an upgrade on natural. They are not better and worse — they do different jobs, and the job is decided by what the spray sits next to.
White as the brightness reference
Natural white is the brightest and most neutral version, and it is the volume reference we quote against. Beside a pale palette it reads as light rather than as a gap. Beside a deeply dyed focal flower it can read grey, because the eye compares it to the saturation around it.
Carrying the palette into the gap
Tinted sprays are tinted against the stock palette, so the filler reads as part of the colour story instead of interrupting it. This is the version to specify when a dyed rose is the focal flower and the space around it has to belong to the same scheme.
Tinted references are matched to an approved sample and hold closer between runs than natural material does, which moves a shade or two with the harvest. If the palette has to survive more than one season, build it in tinted references. Send a reference and we will match the shade — the sample is produced on the stock palette you are ordering from rather than in isolation.
Shed
What normal shed looks like, and what is not normal
Every buyer asks about shed, usually in a worried email after the first carton is opened. The honest answer is that some shed is inherent to the material — but not all shed is the same, and the three kinds tell you different things.
Tell us which of the three you are seeing. A first-handling shed needs no action; the other two are worth a conversation before the material is used, because by then it is harder to establish what happened.
Sizing an order
Plan from the gap, not from the bunch count
Gypsophila is where buyers most often over-order, because it is light and cheap per bunch and easy to add "just in case". The measure that predicts what you need is the volume of empty space you are filling, not the number of pieces you are making.
- Count the positions where a spray will actually show. A spray that is largely buried inside a packed box contributes almost nothing.
- Decide whether the spray is filling a gap between focal flowers or forming a layer of its own. The second use takes considerably more material.
- Remember that a spray is not consumed whole — most pieces use part of a spray, so a bunch covers several positions rather than one.
- For workshop and kit work, order the bulk bag rather than multiple bunches; the bulk format exists precisely because kits consume material in small amounts across many units.
We do not publish a positions-per-bunch figure, because it depends entirely on how tightly the buyer uses the material. Send us the piece and the quantity and we will size the order with you — that is faster than a number that only holds for one style of work.
References
Spread, colour and packing
Spread is measured across the spray as it sits naturally, not stretched flat. The bulk format is the same material packed by weight for volume work rather than a lower grade.
| Reference | Spread | Colour range | Packing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural white | 25–35 cm | Natural only | 50 g bunch | Brightest option |
| Tinted | 25–35 cm | Stock palette | 50 g bunch | Matched to rose shade |
| Bulk sprays | Assorted | Natural and tinted | 200 g bag | Kits, volume work |
Bulk sprays are assorted rather than uniform, because they are drawn from the same production as the bunched material and packed by weight. If your product needs a consistent spread across every unit, order bunched rather than bulk.
On arrival
The first ten minutes decide the rest of the carton
Open the carton in a dry space, not on a loading dock in the rain, and take the bunches out rather than pulling them through the carton opening. Hold a bunch by the stem end and let the sprays hang free before you lay them down — the branches then separate in the direction they grew rather than being dragged apart.
Do not press the sprays flat to save space in a drawer or shelf. Gypsophila will accept a flattened shape and keep it, and a flattened spray is much harder to work with than a round one because the branches no longer read as a cloud. Store the bunches upright in a dry box, or hang them, until they are used.
A commercial invoice and an itemised packing list are issued with every shipment. Carton dimensions and chargeable weight are confirmed at quotation — this is a material that bills on volume far more often than on weight, so the carton plan matters more than the kilos. Delivery is quoted EXW (Kunming) first, then FOB where you have a forwarder at the port, with DAP as the last option; tell us the destination and we will confirm the workable term.
Where it goes
The jobs only a fine spray can do
Bouquets
Softens the outline between focal flowers so a bouquet does not read as a row of blooms.
Boxes & domes
Fills the gaps above a packed head layer, where a solid material would look heavy.
Wreaths & hoops
Carries the eye around the curve without adding bulk to the form.
Workshop kits
Bulk weight suits tables where many small units each need a little material.
Before you order
Gypsophila questions, answered plainly
A small amount on first opening is normal — the flowers were held closed during packing and release as the branches separate. What is not normal is a heavy concentration of loose flower at one end or face of the bunch, with flattened branchlets, which points to the bunch having been compressed in transit. Photograph that and send it to us before using the material.
Because a single gypsophila flower is too small for a diameter figure to be meaningful, and because the material is traded as a whole spray rather than as individual blooms. Spread and branch count describe the properties that actually decide how much space a spray fills, so those are what a specification for this line contains.
No — the two are the same material with different colour treatment, and the choice is a design decision. Natural white is brighter and more neutral and works beside a pale palette. Tinted sprays are used when the space around a dyed focal flower has to belong to the same colour scheme, because natural white beside a saturated flower can read grey by comparison.
We would not. A gypsophila spray takes on a flattened shape and keeps it, and a flattened spray no longer reads as a cloud when it is used — the branches sit in one plane. Store bunches upright in a dry box or hang them; the extra shelf height is a smaller cost than material that has to be worked around.
Minimums are set per reference and confirmed on your quotation, because the practical figure differs between the 50 g bunch, the 200 g bulk bag and the colour. Tell us what you want to test and we will advise the workable minimum before you commit to volume.
Keep reading
Lines that pair with gypsophila
Pairing is where a wedding piece is decided. Bouquet and buttonhole work for wedding florists covers stem lengths per component and how a tinted spray is matched back to the rose beside it.
Next step
Tell us what the spray has to fill
The piece, roughly how much empty space is left for it, the colour direction and your destination. We come back with the format, the quantity and the shipping options, usually within one business day.