In the pantheon of favorite bridal flowers, the top 10, according to TheKnot.com wedding website, are, in descending order: rose, tulip, calla lily, lily of the valley, hydrangea, peony, ranunculus, stephanotis, sweet pea and gardenia.

The same is true whether you’re living in Houston or Honolulu, and Lois Hiranaga of Lois Hiranaga Floral Design would like to see the list expanded to include such familiar tropicals as birds of paradise, anthuriums, protea and heliconia.

No doubt the top 10 are a hit with brides by virtue of their delicacy, color choices and symbolism arising from long-standing tradition. But in Hiranaga’s eyes, new traditions are born every day. The Paia, Maui-based floral designer always thought it was a shame that in Hawaii, visiting brides are more likely than their home-grown counterparts to choose bouquets made from local tropical flowers.

Hiranaga, who regularly works with brides from Europe and Australia on their dream destination weddings in Hawaii, said, "It’s funny how sometimes when you’re not from here, you appreciate Hawaii more.

"Brides are so influenced by what they see written in bridal magazines, and if they see a certain trend, that’s what they want."

And what they’ll see in national bridal magazines are soft-filter photographs of pale-colored bouquets in delicate lilies and roses. not the hard, fiery red of anthuriums used in four of Hiranaga’s designs.

She created the "Kilauea" to showcase the Tropic Fire anthurium developed by the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, which Green Point Nurseries submitted to the Society of American Florists international flower competition, where it won first place in September against entries from such flower-producing nations as Costa Rica, Thailand and Holland.

Unlike the visitor who finds romantic allure in tropical flowers, local brides may simply see them as ordinary backyard flowers. Or, Hiranaga said, "They see something like a bird of paradise or red ginger in the yard and see it’s so big. We’re not making a club. They never think we could make this smaller by taking it apart and using the tips."

In a florist version of farm-to-table — let’s call it farm-to-wedding aisle — she partnered with Eric Tano­uye of Green Point Nurseries in Hilo to help promote bridal floral designs utilizing locally raised flowers. She already knew that raising awareness of the flowers can go a long way in getting people to use them.

Four years ago she teamed up with Hitomi Gilliam, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based floral designer and also, like Hira­naga, an accredited member of the American Institute of Floral Designers, to write a pictorial 128-page industry guide to flowers and foliage from Hawaii.

Their "Neotropica Hawaii Tropical Flower + Plant Guide" helped to acquaint flower shops, designers and wholesalers with the scope of what is available.

"A lot of times, we use what people are asking for, and part of our not using the flowers is because people don’t see them being used."

She said the guidebook took some of the mystery out of ordering local flowers sight unseen.

"When you show them what it’s going to look like, it’s easy for them to say, ‘Yes, I want it.’ If you’re just trying to explain with words, a lot of times it’s hard for them to visualize."