Graduation in Berlin

Graduation in Berlin: flowers in colour, for the hand and the table

In Germany chrysanthemums, white ones above all, are linked with the cemetery, so for graduation in Berlin the chrysanthemum comes in colour, paired with a lily. A graduate needs something she can carry alongside a rolled certificate, and something that still looks good at home once the day is over.

A chrysanthemum beside a lily: colour that reads as congratulations

A bouquet made entirely of white lilies, calla or hydrangea, or white chrysanthemums, can read as a funeral arrangement to some German guests, so a florist pairs the chrysanthemum with a lily and keeps the palette away from plain white. A chrysanthemum holds for two to three weeks in a vase, while a rose lasts about a week, so a coloured chrysanthemum with a lily will outlast the day.

Lily pollen stains fabric and is hard to lift out once it sets. Where the graduate is in a pale dress, the anthers of open flowers are best removed before the handover, and any pollen that has already fallen is lifted off with sticky tape rather than rubbed in. Lilies are also toxic to cats, so they are not the flower to send into a home that keeps one.

Lavender, peach or mixed: choosing the graduation rose

The rose for a graduation bouquet in Berlin comes in two shapes as well as several colours. Lavender appears both as spray roses, several smaller heads on one stem, and as peony-shaped roses, bred mostly from David Austin's English lines or similar varieties, such as fifteen lavender peony-shaped roses. Jumilia, a rose with a bud up to seven centimetres across, a white base and a pink edge, is another option, holding for close to two weeks in water; fifty-one Jumilia in airy wrapping is one example.

Peach and mixed roses are offered both as a hand-tied bouquet and as a box, and either keeps for about a week, sometimes closer to ten days.

A bouquet carried in the crook of the arm leaves the other hand free for the certificate, which is why a compact hand-tied bunch is best for the ceremony itself. A box, a basket or a floral handbag needs no vase at all, which suits flowers meant to travel home afterwards and sit on the table once the day is done.

For graduation flower delivery in Berlin timed to an event, the courier is briefed to arrive for the right moment, with the time agreed with the venue, down to the moment the graduate steps on stage. The florist photographs the finished bouquet before the courier leaves, the exact timing shows in the bouquet's own listing, and most orders go out on the day they are placed; details are on the delivery page. Sending to a hotel or an office nearby works the same way as any other order of flowers in Berlin.

German peonies until June, dianthus for weeks after

Peonies grown in Germany are cut from late April through June, so a graduation that falls later in summer calls for roses in a peony-like shape instead. A peony stem keeps for five to seven days, shorter than most of the alternatives here. Dianthus, the carnation, stretches to two or three weeks, which makes a bunch of fifteen dianthus a steadier choice for a date set well after the cutting season ends.

Keep the vase away from radiators and direct sun; see flowers in Berlin.

For lavender and peach, see lavender and mixed roses; for seasonal timing, peonies; for something to stand at home afterwards, flowers in boxes.