Peonies in Amsterdam

Peonies in Amsterdam: Dutch-grown in season, chosen by shade and address

Peonies in Amsterdam come from the country that grows the most cut peonies in the world: Dutch sales passed 78 million stems in 2018, more than 20 million of them a single variety, Sarah Bernhardt. Choosing a bunch here starts with the month, the shade, and whether the person receiving it has a vase at all.

Sarah Bernhardt from Dutch fields, late April to June

Dutch growers cut peonies from late April to June, and within that stretch the peonies sold in Amsterdam can be grown in the country itself. Sarah Bernhardt, raised by the French breeder Lemoine and registered in 1906, is the double-bloomed, dark pink variety with a paler edge that dominates the Dutch volume.

Outside that window the flower still reaches the shop, just from further away. Israel, Italy and France cover February to April, and Chile cuts from October to December, so peonies in Amsterdam are on offer almost all year, though not quite every week of it. Moederdag, the second Sunday of May, falls inside the Dutch season, and the rest of the dates worth knowing through the year are set out in Amsterdam's flower calendar. Whichever month an order lands in, the stems are bought once payment is confirmed, chosen for that particular bunch rather than pulled off a shelf.

Peony delivery in Amsterdam to a Driemond house or a Zuidas office

Driemond, a residential corner of Zuidoost, is the kind of address where a vase is usually already on a shelf, and wrapped stems suit it well: a bunch such as "11 White Peonies with Eucalyptus" goes straight into it.

Zuidas is a different kind of address. Around 2,000 companies and more than 50,000 people work there, and a desk between meetings is no place for loose, dripping stems. For an office, boxes with peonies and a basket of peonies both stand on their own without a vase, which is why either suits a desk better than a hand-tied bunch; "15 Peonies in a Basket" is one of them.

Before the courier sets off, the florist photographs the finished bunch. Delivery is free within the centre; further out a zone fee applies and is shown before payment goes through, and how soon a particular bunch can travel is shown on its own page, not promised here. The delivery terms cover both.

How many stems and which shade: a peony gift sized for Amsterdam

Size comes first. A handful of stems suits a short visit, while a table laid for the whole family calls for an armful instead.

Shade comes next, and the simplest rule is the recipient's favourite colour rather than the occasion: white or pink.

Where a single flower feels too plain on its own, a peony is often set among other stems rather than left alone in the wrap.

One pairing worth skipping: in the Netherlands, chrysanthemums and white lilies are flowers kept for mourning, and neither sits well next to a peony meant for a happy occasion.

A good place to start choosing is by size, in peonies by quantity, by shade, through choose by colour, or among bouquets with peonies for something mixed with other stems.