Bouquets in London

Bouquets in London: flown-in stems and the few that grow in Britain

Cornwall cuts daffodils from January to April, with trade heaviest around Mothering Sunday and Easter. That is Britain's own early-spring flower, even though about nine in ten cut stems sold in the country are imported. That leaves most bouquets in London shaped by flower, season and format rather than by where the stems grew, so the choice comes down to what is actually in bloom and what the day calls for.

British-grown stems: Cornish daffodils, then peonies into June

Daffodils are the one flower with a genuine claim to a British spring. Cornwall's growers cut them from January into April, and demand peaks around Mothering Sunday and Easter, when spring bouquets sell fastest. Peonies follow a shorter home season, cut from late April into June, in the same weeks as Dutch, French and German farms bring theirs to market. Both are a matter of timing rather than origin, which is why a bouquet built around either flower only works while its season lasts. Browsing seasonal bouquets is the easiest way to see what that means in practice. One practical point about daffodils is worth knowing: freshly cut, they bleed sap into shared water. Florists keep them apart for about a day and never recut the stems once they join an arrangement with other flowers.

Flown in the rest of the year: Dutch mixes and Kenyan roses

Most of what fills a London bouquet arrives from somewhere else. About nine in ten cut stems sold in Britain are imported, and the Netherlands supplies more of them than any other single country. Kenya sends roses almost exclusively, and Colombia adds its own share on top of that; since 2021, both countries have been shipping more of their flowers direct rather than through Dutch auctions. Nearly every imported rose travels by air, and more than a third of that trade lands at Heathrow before reaching a London florist. The cold chain is what protects it: stems are held at around zero to two degrees in transit, because every hour spent warm afterwards shortens their time in a vase.

Lilies, gerberas, chrysanthemums and alstroemeria are greenhouse flowers and need none of that seasonal timing, since they grow under glass all year round. That is why mixed bouquets with lilies, gerberas or hydrangea, among them a Lily and Gerbera Bouquet or a Hydrangea and Misty Bouquet, can be ordered in January as easily as in July. Each bouquet is put together once the order is placed, and the flowers themselves are bought only after payment clears.

Kraft paper, a business bouquet or a giant: matching the day

The right wrapping depends on where the bouquet is going. Kraft paper suits a visit, carried through the door and put straight into a vase by whoever answers it. An office delivery works differently. London's financial towers, in the City and at Canary Wharf, mean a lift lobby and a reception desk rather than a doorstep, so a sturdier, more structured arrangement holds up better on that route. For an evening where the bouquet is meant to be the main gift, size does the talking, and a taller, fuller arrangement earns a place on a table rather than in someone's arms. Hotels and hospital wards each have their own rules about flowers, and London's wider calendar and its weather are covered on the hotels, wards and the London calendar page.

A florist photographs the finished bouquet before the courier sets off, so a change can still be asked for at that point. Most orders placed in London are handed over the same day, though the exact timing for a given bouquet is shown on its own page rather than fixed here. The card that goes with it costs nothing extra. For bouquet delivery in London, the zones and how the handover works are set out on the zones and the handover page.

A spring order is simplest built around whatever is actually in flower rather than around daffodils or peonies themselves. An office delivery works best as a pick from business bouquets, sturdy enough for a reception desk. A bouquet meant to be carried straight to someone's door suits bouquets in kraft paper, and an evening meant to make the bouquet the whole gift is better served by giant bouquets.