Designer Bouquets in New York

Designer bouquets in New York, from the Chelsea flower trade to a vase

Of the old wholesale houses on West 28th Street in Chelsea, New York's Flower District, only one still trades, in business since the 1930s. Designer bouquets in New York begin the same way that trade did: a florist picks each stem one by one, and in this city many of those stems fly in from South America. So the real choice starts with what a florist has on hand this month and where the finished piece is headed.

Hotel check-ins, hospital wards, orders placed from abroad and how the city's holidays and heating affect a bouquet are all covered on the sending flowers in New York page, one stop for anything outside the flowers themselves.

What goes into a designer bouquet in New York, stem by stem

Nearly four-fifths of the cut flowers sold in the United States are imported, more than half of that from Colombia and about a quarter from Ecuador. That is why a rose in a New York design is almost certainly one of the Andean roses grown on that side of the continent. Ecuadorian farms sit at roughly 2,800 to 3,000 metres, where daylight holds close to twelve hours all year round, so a florist here can count on a rose stem whatever month it happens to be.

The section itself mixes a loose hand-tied bunch with pieces that come in a container of their own: a designer box such as the Virginia, a flower box like the Stella, and a basket that needs no vase at all. A French rose, the kind behind the 21 French Roses bouquet, is not a separate variety but a technique: a florist turns back the outer petals of each rose by hand, which is what gives the flower its fuller, reflexed look.

Peonies in June, chrysanthemums in October: a designer piece by month

On the Northeast coast, New York included, peonies flower from late May into early June, and that narrow window is the only time a designer piece can carry local-season peonies rather than ones flown in from further away. Spring also brings bulb flowers and ranunculus, lilac follows in May, hydrangea and sunflower take the summer, and dahlias and chrysanthemums head towards autumn. That is the cutting calendar of the northern hemisphere, not a promise of what sits in the cooler this particular week.

Chrysanthemum, gerbera, alstroemeria, lily, lisianthus and carnation are greenhouse flowers, so a florist can reach for any of them in any month. In the United States the chrysanthemum usually reads as a cheerful flower rather than a mourning one, which is why it turns up easily in an autumn arrangement for the table.

Designer bouquet delivery in New York: carried to a vase or set down in a box

A spiral hand-tied bouquet is built to stand on its own: the stems cross at a single point roughly a hand's width below the flower heads, so it holds its shape the moment it goes into a vase, no support needed. A designer box or flower box works the other way round, among the flowers in boxes formats: it is simply set down wherever it is handed over, on a hotel desk or an office counter, with no vase to find.

For a bigger gesture than any of these formats allow, the designer giants section next door scales the same ideas up. The florist photographs the finished piece before the courier leaves, so there is still time to ask for a change. If a stem the design calls for is not available that day, it is swapped for one close in colour and price, and that swap is visible on the same photo. Most orders go out the day they are placed, though the exact window shows on the bouquet's own page; delivery is free in the centre, and delivery terms for the rest of the city are set out on their own page.

A big, showy gesture points towards the designer giants next door. A date in late May or early June is the one chance for a local peony rather than an imported one. Any other month, a rose-based piece is the safer bet, since Andean farms keep New York supplied all year.