Teacher's Day in Cape Town

Teachers' Day flowers: the bouquet that has to get home

World Teachers' Day falls on 5 October, and a number of countries keep their own date. What they share is the arithmetic: one person receives somewhere between five and thirty bouquets in a few hours, and the real question of the day is not which one is prettiest but how any of it gets home.

A good teacher's bouquet solves transport, not spectacle.

Compact beats tall

A long-stemmed bouquet in a cone of wrapping takes the space of two and will not go into a car alongside the rest. Thirty of them do not physically fit in a boot.

A hat box or a foam-lined container wins on every count: the water is inside, it stands on the floor of a car without spilling, and at home it needs no vase — and nobody owns thirty spare vases.

One bouquet from the class

A single arrangement from the whole class works better than twenty small ones, both financially and in practice. It can be genuinely large instead of twenty identical bunches of chrysanthemums, half of which wilt in a cloakroom before the day ends.

If individual bouquets are the tradition, agree a rough size between parents. A visible gap between children's gifts is an avoidable thing to introduce into a classroom.

Composition

October is chrysanthemum season, and it is the most appropriate flower of the day: two weeks in a vase, indifferent to a journey, and generous in volume. Alstroemeria, carnation, lisianthus, roses, gerbera, dried stems and autumn foliage all sit alongside it.

The palette is warm and autumnal — ochre, terracotta, burgundy, cream, green. It suits the occasion better than pastel and reads as respect rather than romance.

What to avoid

Red roses to a teacher read ambiguously, particularly from an older pupil. Lilies are a poor choice in a classroom: the scent in a closed room holding thirty people, and pollen on clothing, are both immediate problems.

Not only schools

University lecturers, private tutors, coaches and music teachers are marked on the same day. There a personal, medium-sized bouquet suits better than a ceremonial one.

Delivery

Book the morning, before the first lesson, and give the school address with a room number. When a bouquet goes to Cape Town addressed to a teacher, add the subject they teach — reception finds the right person considerably faster.