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Flowers for graduation in Barcelona, in the last week of June
Graduation in Barcelona comes at the end of June, when Catalan schools close the school year, and 24 June, Sant Joan, is a public holiday in the city. A graduation bouquet usually does two jobs: it looks right in the photographs at the ceremony, then it stands at home for the days after.
Lavender and white roses for the last week of the Catalan school year
The graduation selection is built around lavender roses in two shapes: Eleven Lavender Spray Roses and Fifteen Peony Lavender Roses. The second opens into a dense, many-petalled cup. Most peony-shaped roses are English varieties bred by David Austin, or similar ones.
Not every graduate wants lavender, and the same range holds white roses and mixed-colour roses, including one arranged in a box. According to forecasts from Mercabarna-flor, the city's flower market, around eighty per cent of the roses sold in Barcelona arrive from Colombia. Real peonies have their own section.
One flower is worth ruling out on purpose. In Spain a large chrysanthemum reads as a funeral flower, carried to graves and memorials, so a graduate is better served by roses or by lilies.
Flowers for graduation in Barcelona can be ordered for a day chosen in advance. Orders for a set date and slot are accepted for any delivery zone in the city. The earlier it is placed, the more slots are still open, and most bouquets go out on the day they are ordered. The exact timing for a given bouquet shows on its own page before checkout.
Before the courier leaves, the finished bouquet is photographed and sent to whoever placed the order, and a card with a message of your own costs nothing extra. A balloon or a small gift can go in the same order and travel with the bouquet.
Lilies without pollen marks, Jumilia for a fortnight in a vase
Pollen is the detail to manage around a graduation outfit. Lily pollen leaves stains that are hard to remove, so the anthers come out once the flower opens; fresh pollen on fabric is lifted with sticky tape, never rubbed. A home with a cat is one place lilies should not go at all, since the flower is poisonous to cats.
51 Jumilia in Airy Wrapping is a large-headed rose: the bud reaches up to seven centimetres, white at the base and pink at the edge. With fresh water it holds in a vase for up to a fortnight, well past the week an ordinary rose manages.
Twenty-five Mixed Roses in a Box suit a family flat better than loose stems. The box stands on its own without a vase, and the foam inside needs water across its whole surface every day to keep the roses fresh. In a Barcelona summer, keep the vase away from direct sun and radiators; more on where a vase should stand in a Barcelona summer.
A first look at the graduation range is easiest by shape: roses for the classic single-flower bouquet and flowers in boxes for a flat where nobody keeps a vase to hand, with delivery set for a chosen date and slot.