Summertime flowers & flower care

Summer conjures up images of blue skies, endless days, and the smell of cut grass.  However, we all know that it isn’t always like that. Especially in the UK, where the weather can be somewhat changeable.

Summer is a great time for florists since there is a wonderful range of flowers available over the summer period.  Most flowers love warmth and sunshine to grow and the choices available for flowers over summer increases greatly.  The added benefit of warmer weather is that it doesn’t cost as much to grow flowers in summer (over colder months, some flowers need to be grown in heated greenhouses, which makes them more expensive), that means you can get many more stems for the same price in Summer.

Whilst flowers love sunshine and warm temperatures when growing, they don’t like it so much when flowers are in a bouquet.  Cut flowers need plenty of water and shouldn’t be put in very sunny or hot places in order for your bouquet to have a long vase-life.  A cool, shaded environment and regularly topping-up and changing the water should keep your flowers fresh over the summer months.

Some of the favourite summer flowers includes:

Peonies – these are available over April – early July.  Very popular for weddings and large displays, this summer flower comes in pinks and whites and is bursting with delicate petals when open.

Stocks – a tall, strong-stemmed flower with a very lovely, sweet scent.  This is available in pinks, reds, yellows, lilacs and most popular in white.

Delphinium – also a tall flower and called delphinium owing to its resemblance to the bottle-like nose of a dolphin.  Traditionally this summer flowers come in delicate blue and lilac colours.

Roses are always a popular flower and these are available all year round, including the hottest summer months.  Tulips, on the other hand, get quite small over the summer months, so we tend not to include them in bouquets until the weather warms up.