Not all the new floral collections are dark... but maybe you're just not looking at the right manufacturers!
Check out these groups by South Sea Imports and Wilmington Prints (sister comanies):
http://www.favoritefabric.com/cgi/co...a_imports.html
http://www.favoritefabric.com/cgi/co...ilmington.html
http://www.favoritefabric.com/cgi/co...ilmington.html
And Moda had a nice group called Summer Breeze , with yellow and blue florals. It's been pretty popular as Moda is already sold out of some of the larger scale prints.
http://www.favoritefabric.com/cgi/co...gory_moda.html