Care · a five-minute read
Make your bouquet last a week
Two fingers off the stems, fresh water every two days and away from the fruit bowl. Seven small habits that make a difference, and how long each flower lasts.
The journalEvery season · notes from the shop
Journal from the counter
What we tell people in the shop when they ask: how to look after a bouquet, which flowers each month brings and why the seasonal one is better value.
Care
2 weeks
The three that last longest
Chrysanthemum, carnation and alstroemeria: two weeks or more in the vase, if you change the water.
Craft
How a bouquet is tied by hand
The stems are laid in a spiral, one over the other, and tied at a single point. That’s why the bouquet opens by itself in the vase and stands up without foam.
Season · March
“For the Ofrenda, tell us which falla you’re with and the colour you’re wearing.”
The Ofrenda is the Fallas flower offering to Our Lady; a falla is the neighbourhood group that takes part. Bouquets are ordered a week ahead: every florist is flat out those days.
Care
Orchid: half a glass every ten days
And never on top of a radiator. When the flowers drop, cut the spike above the second node: it usually flowers again.
Season
Why the seasonal one is better value
Because it’s the flower the market has most of that month. There’s plenty, it arrives fresh and it hasn’t travelled halfway round the world: it lasts longer at home and costs less.
Craft
A wedding, month by month
Six months before, the day is booked; a month before, the bouquet is trialled; in the wedding week, the flowers are ordered from the market.
No notes on this topic yet.
Seasonal calendarIt’s this month
Which flowers each month
This month at the market the flowers of each season
| Flower | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulips | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||||||||
| Mimosa | yes | yes | yes | |||||||||
| Anemones | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |||||||
| Ranunculus | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||||||||
| Lilac | yes | yes | ||||||||||
| Peonies | yes | yes | ||||||||||
| Sunflowers | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||||||||
| Dahlias | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||||||||
| Chrysanthemums | yes | yes | yes | |||||||||
| Poinsettia | yes | yes | yes |
This is the outdoor season. Greenhouses have almost everything almost all the time, but out of its month a flower travels further and costs more.
Words from the counterSo we understand each other
Nine words from the florist’s
- Hand-tied bouquet
- Stems in a spiral, tied at a single point. It stands up by itself in the vase, without foam.
- Arrangement
- Flowers set on a base, in foam or a vase, made to be seen on a table.
- Seasonal flowers
- What the fields give that month. It arrives fresher, lasts longer and costs less.
- Greenery
- The leaves and branches that go with the flowers: eucalyptus, pittosporum, ruscus. They add body and scent.
- Gypsophila
- The tiny white filler flower. On its own, in a big bunch, it looks lovely too.
- Buttonhole
- The small flower the groom wears on his lapel, to match the bridal bouquet.
- Wreath
- A round arrangement for a funeral, with a ribbon and a name if you’d like.
- Dried flowers
- Air-dried flowers that last for months without water. They lose a little colour, not their shape.
- Kraft
- The brown wrapping paper we use for bouquets. It goes in the recycling with the cardboard.