As someone whose current relationship status is: ‘made dinner for two, ate both’, I understand the importance of showing your other half (currently a jar of Nutella) just how much you mean to them – and let’s face it, nothing says ‘I love you’ come Valentine’s Day more so than a bunch of gorgeous flowers.
But don’t just take my word for it, even science says that flowers have the power to make you happy by increasing dopamine, serotonin and the love hormone, oxytocin, in your body. Flowers equals great sex, in other words.
A recent study conducted by Rutgers University in the US also concluded that flowers were linked to overall life satisfaction. Nature, the study argued, provides us with a ‘simple way to improve emotional health’, and the presence of perennials alone triggers all sorts of happy emotions, from shape to scent, that promote and encourage positive social interactions. That said, you better get your lips in tip top shape and pucker up for that all important thank you smooch.
How to care for your flowers:
- Think of your stems! Once you've unwrapped and chosen a vase for your flowers, trim the stems before you plop them in water. Make sure they're to an angle to ensure better water intake.
- Prune. Every morning and evening, remove all the dead leaves below the water line. Not only does it make the whole thing look prettier, but it also keeps those pesky bacteria from growing and killing your bunch. For those with roses, shave off the outer most petals to ensure maximum bloom.
- Avoid the sun and remember fruit is bad for your petals. Well, when it comes to perennials anyway. If you leave your flowers in direct sun, you run the risk of blowing its poor petals up. Alternative? Place them in the shade and then all parties will be happy. As for the fruit, when your average banana etc ripens, it releases ever so small amounts of ethylene gas which can actually prove perilous to your bouquet. You've been warned.
- Water sensibly. Go for room temperature H2O. Anything else (severely cold or as hot as hell) will kill it quicker than the next Z-Lister's singing career. Also, change the water every two days, otherwise your bunch will smell just plain nasty.
- Feed them. They put those little pouches of minerals in there for a reason you know. Mix in as you add the water to the vase for the best results.
- The fridge is key. Now if you are one of those mothers who takes what your kids spend on you very seriously here's a quirky tip: empty your fridge and shove them in there. Flowers actually thrive in cooler temperatures, so you'll squeeze an extra three days out of your son or daughter's pockets.
With Cupid’s Day fast approaching, we’ve rounded up and life tested the finest stems, blooms and stamens to bring you our fine capital’s chicest tussie mussies to ensure your Mr, Mrs or They has the best Valentine’s Day yet.
From couture stonkers loved by the fash crowd to Instagram favourites and the best east end alternatives, here’s 11 mixes that will put you in the good books on Valentine’s night.
Use this link to jump to Best Flowers for Valentine's Day Under £30
Neill Strain Floral Couture – Spring Collection
Best for: Girls and boys who constantly dream of OTT splendour
Suggested vase size: dependent on size, but medium with a large rim will do the trick
How long does it last for? 11 beautiful days
A master of orchids, Neill Strain’s mixes are best summed up as absolute regality meets art. In many respects, the florist is very much like your grand traditional afternoon tea: loud, a little crazy (in a good way), wonderfully eccentric and yet classic all at the same time.
Stunningly rich, the scent is sweet oriental garden served with a side of lush dynamism. Topped with kaleidoscopic premium red roses, spray roses, kaleidoscopic vanda orchids, cymbidium orchids, calla lilies, lisianthus, strantia, wax flower, the entire bouquet is one big colossus that packs a mighty punch that screams supreme quality. The textured brunia and skimmia foliage also gives it added star appeal. Advice, buy it, and now.
From £195 | Neil Strain Floral Couture | Buy it now
FlowerBx – Pink Sweet Avalanche Rose
Best for: girls and boys whose middle name is ‘chic’
Suggested vase size: it comes with one
How long does it last for? Mine lasted 12 glorious days
A favourite of the fash crowd, FlowerBx has everyone from Tom Ford to Victoria Beckham, Louis Vuitton and Dior on the client list.
The baby of former Tom Ford PR guru Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, every deliciously chic petal, stem and stamen housed at Flowerbx HQ comes direct from the gloriously lush flower fields of Holland ensuring unrivalled style, quality and A-Grade blooms. Our delivery was no exception.
Beautifully styled in a vase, this fragrant and timeless collection of avalanche roses makes a stellar addition to budding floraltopias, and as it’s wonderfully versatile, suits any space in the home. You can also order the bunch with a Muguet candle, too.
From £70 | FlowerBx | Buy it now
The Midsummer Night’s Dream
Best for: Literary addicts
Suggested vase size: small, with a large rim.
How long does it last for? Nine lovely days
The only way to sum up this London florist in a word is: fabulous. Led by creative directors Sue Barnes and pal Colin Grey, Lavender Green Flowers dons one of the most photogenic floral boutiques in London, with everything from high end bunches to affordable, but classy, blooms on the menu. Best pick for Valentine's?
The Shakespearean-inspired 'Midsummer Nights Dream', a romantic collection of deep plum ranunculus, purple parrot tulips, hot pink waxflower, clematis and scented lilac, finished off with a glorious free-flowing bunch of foliage. Put it next to a painting for maximum effect.
From £65 | Lavender Green Flowers | Buy it now
Wild Things Flowers – The Sweetest Thing
Best for: Instagram kings and queens
Suggested vase size: most bunches come with vase, otherwise think big
How long does it last for? 10 days before we sadly had to say goodbye
Everything self-taught designer Louise Bermingham of Wild Things Flowers creates defies the rule book of floral arrangements. The result? Botanical (and highly Instagrammable) masterpieces that marvel, impress and literally take your breath away.
The bouquet to buy this year is the ‘Sweetest Thing.’ Simple, yet ballsy, it’s a whimsical sweet smelling affair gathered in the floral house’s signature unruly wild style. Packaged in a luxe hat box, the mix features white scented O’hara, quicksand and uber pretty pearl avalanche and pastel-coloured tumbling roses and white hydrangeas. Though pricey know this, you’re paying for supreme quality.
£390 | Wild Things Flowers | Buy it now
Princess & KO – Classic Valentine’s Day bouquet
Best for: People in between their modern and vintage phase
Suggested vase size: Medium with a large rim
How long does it last for? Seven days
Princess & KO’s Dawid ‘princess’ Pierwola and Elias Kouyialis come up with a load of classic, yet modern and stylish ensembles that brighten up any boudoir, dull or not.
Blooms in their Valentine’s Day edit include a bright mix of classic red and pink roses including Rhodos, Putchkin and Fiction, beautifully cut and presented in a snug and environmentally friendly paper tote. The only other thing worth shouting about is they smell absolutely incredible.
From £95 | Princess & Ko | Buy it now
Wild at Heart – Pink Rose Bouquet
Best for: Instagram influencers
Suggested vase size: small with a large rim
How long does it last for? Eight very lovely days
If your boy or gal is an Instagram wannabe who hangs outside the oak doors of Liberty, then they are no stranger to Nikki Tibbles, purveyor of fabulous florals to the London’s glitterati. Warm, fuzzy and Disney-esque, this year’s offering from the floral world’s Powerpuff Girl is wonderfully bright and infectiously chirpy – something we all need in these dark and cold winter months.
Big, bold and just plain bonkers, the Pink Rose Bouquet is a beautifully rich mix of Moody Blue O’Hara, Sweet Avalanche, Pink Floyd Roses, eucalyptus and Camelia foliage and has upcoming wedding proposal written all over it. Petals are silk to the touch and the smell is buzzingly fragrant, but not overpowering. Epic.
£125 | Wild at Heart | Buy it now
McQueens – Aphrodite
Best for: cringe-loving romantic types
Suggested vase size: medium, though the entire range can be ordered with vase at request
How long does it last for? Ours lasted two days before we had to say goodbye
The go to florists of some of the world’s glitziest parties and events, and stellar hotels Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley, too, the who’s who of the London scene know who to call to get their hands on the best of the best our fair planet’s stems has to offer: McQueens.
An homage to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, who’s legend is steeped in beauty, love, passion and pleasure, the hypnotic bouquet is made up of black baccara roses, black jack tulips, burgundy hellebores, lashings of berried ivy and blindingly pink fuschia piaa roses. It smells wonderful, too.
The most sustainable of the brands on this list, the floral spruce is packaged in eco-friendly packaging void of plastic, and by 2021, will be delivered to your door in an electric or low emission vehicle.
And if you want to go all out, this year the floral house is offering a Valentine’s Day concierge service where members of the McQueens design team will create and install a floral work of art in your own home. Start saving.
From £120 | McQueens | Buy it now
Grace & Thorn – Crazy Love
Best for: cooler-than-cool boys and girls
Suggested vase size: it comes with one
How long does it last for? Mine lasted nine days before it looked visibly done
Grace & Thorn have long been a favourite in the Hackney set for their unconventional and messy tussie mussies that add a bit of edge to east London’s floral alt-type posse. Romantic, dark, gothic – however you want to describe them, our delivery of wild, classic and exotic florals were top notch.
With several to choose from, our top pick is Crazy Love, a delightful mash up of dark red and light pink roses, cherry burgundy ranunculus, mocha lisianthus, fragrant ginster, burgundy leucadendron and pale pink astrantia.
With styles inspired by the Dutch masters, their arrangements are utterly unique, artistic and decadent - the trio you’ll need if you want to stand out from the crowd this Valentine’s Day.
£90 | Grace & Thorn | Buy it now
Carly Rogers Flowers – Bespoke Creations
Best for: Arty types
Suggested vase size: you do not need one
How long does it last for? Six days
If you are looking for something original this Valentine’s Day, Carly Rogers is your girl. An expert in making people go ‘wow’, her abstract creations are often inspired by her obsession with all things classicist art and nature. Designer of set pieces for the likes of Mayfair restaurant sketch, the Evening Standard and Conde Nast Traveller, the 2020 Rogers ‘bouquet’ comes in the form of a ‘wild flower moss bomb’.
Constructed using #nofloralfoam, the chicken wire and moss-covered base ensures the creation’s stunningly arranged sweet-scented chiffon roses, seeded grasses and autumnal foliage stay fresher for longer. Fun and quirky, it’s the only thing on this list (bar the vases) your Mr or Mrs will actually be able to keep. Bespoke pieces are also available on request.
From £150 | Carly Rogers Flowers | Buy it now
Flora Starkey – Bespoke Mixes
Best for: exclusive types
Suggested vase size: Dependent on what you ask for
How long does it last for? Dependent on what you buy
Flora Starkey is romantic poets personified. Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton and Victoria Beckham have been fans of the floral artist for years and her work has been featured in countless high-end magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar and British Vogue, as well as on the covers of the odd Florence + The Machine album.
The florals are just as illustrious as her client list. Everything on the florist’s low-key website and Instagram are created entirely bespoke, so if you want your bunch to have a dash of added personality, Flora’s your best bet.
Flora Starkey | Buy it now
Selfridges – Aoyama Flower Market
Best for: guys and gals who are in the doghouse this Valentine’s Day
Suggested vase size: large
How long does it last for? Nine marvellous days
From reception to my desk and even on the miserably hellish thing that is the Circle Line, praise was unanimously high for Aoyama Flower Market’s stonkingly beautiful Valentine’s Day bouquet. Arguably designed to draw gasps of delight, it’s a fresh and contemporary bijou that is perfectly proportioned and effortlessly executed.
Hand-tied and wrapped in stamped imported Japanese paper, roses crown the mix and are complemented by seasonal varieties of foliage and eucalyptus sourced from Tokyo, Japan. Scent wise, it let us down as we couldn’t even get a wiff of sweetness from the roses, but otherwise a stunning statement choice that will give you major brownie points at the dinner table on February 14.
From £120 | Selfridges | Buy it now
Fortnum & Mason – Ecuadorian Roses
Best for: classic types
Suggested vase size: small with a large rim
How long does it last for? Six wondrous days
The Queen’s go-to grocer knows a thing or two about flowers, and this year have delivered again with a hand tied mint and eucalyptus number that has romance (and fine, fine aromas) spewing from every inch of its romantically red petals.
Each of the 24 posies are grown on the Narango Group of farms in Ecuador, globally recognised for their International Green Certification awarded to them by the Rainforest Alliance. A sustainable and ethical choice that helps to protect and conserve wildlife, safeguard soils and water sources for local communities – bravo Fortnum’s and you for buying it.
From £80 | Fortnum & Mason | Buy it now
Maison de Fleurs The One
Best for: old school romantics
Suggested vase size: comes included
How long does it last for? The jury's still out
If you find earnest sentiments just plain awkward, Valentine's Day can be tricky. That's why you should "say it with flowers" and for those making a grand declaration of love, Maison de Fleurs' opulent The One bouquet says it better than most. The arrangement of elegant sugar pink roses is part of the Valentine's Day 2020 Collection and comes in three sizes; classic, luxury and outrageous.
The look is one of vintage so some petals are tinged darker pink or a sepia-like yellow - don't worry, it's all part of the effect.
What's great about this is that the bouquet is designed to be kept in the chic grey Couture Collection box or vase that it's delivered in (kept watered by a special hydrating gel), so there's no need to disturb the arrangement once you get it. Just set in a suitably showstopping space to give it the attention it rightly deserves.
London delivery only.
£160 | Maison de Fleurs | Buy it now
Best Flowers for Valentine's Day Under £30
If you’re planning to buy a bouquet for someone special, we’ve rounded up some of the best under £30 below.
From classic red roses to flamboyant displays of floristry, Abha Shah hand-picks bunches to make their heart sing.
The Sweetness by Moonpig
It's all in the name with this pretty bunch. Cream lily, pink antirrhinum, pink bouvardia and pistache foliage come hand-wrapped in a frosted cellophane, and if you need bit more oomph you can upgrade the arrangement by 25 per cent for an extra £5.
If you're looking for something more traditional, go for the 12 Sweetheart roses for £17 with code ROSES15
£24 | Moonpig | Buy it now
See all Valentine's Day 2020 offers from Moonpig
Arena Letterbox Flowers Venice
There's no risk of your Valentine missing your flower delivery with this letterbox-sized option. Arena has mixed trad roses with lilies, lisianthus and a sprinkling of waxflower and ruscus to round the whole look out.
Don't panic if the buds arrived closed; they're deliberately kept that way so they'll open up in their new environment and last for longer.
£29.98 | Arena Flowers | Buy it now
Serenata Bella Rossa
Pretty in pink, this bouquet offers a lovely alternative to anyone who doesn't like the idea of an all-red bunch.
What’s more if you’ve left it to the last minute, you can get next day delivery until 10pm, 7 days of the week. Consider your skin well and truly saved, 11th hour Romeos.
£29.99 | Serenata Flowers | Buy it now
Shop all Valentine’s bouquets at Serenata
Aldi Shades of Love Bouquet
For Valentine's flowers that can go big as well as go home, Aldi has pulled out all the stops with its mammoth 100 flower arrangement.
A riot of 100 roses in pink, peach and of course, true red, romantic gestures of the botanical kind don’t get much grander than the budget supermarket's generous bouquet.
The statement look is made up of 10 varieties of premium roses and are cut to 40cm, allowing your Valentine to arrange as they please (we managed to get five separate posies out of ours).
On sale from February 12.
£29.99 | Aldi | Buy it now
Lidl 100 Red Rose Bouquet
Why stop at a dozen? Lidl is also offering 100 red roses for the sort of bargain price we've all come to expect from the grocer - £25.
The chain, which won the gong for best Fresh Flower Supermarket 2019, is offering this bumper bouquet in store only from February 12, but only while stocks last. At this price, we can't imagine they'll be around for very long.
If you don't have time to pick these up in person, why not have flowers delivered to your S.O online instead? It will save you the faff of transporting them, plus they'll arrive in pristine condition for your chosen one. These letterbox bouquets are packed flat ready for your recipient to arrange however they like once they get home.
£25 | Find your nearest Lidl here
Rose Galore
Send flowers and help a good cause by shopping for your floral fancy from Cancer Research UK's Online Flower Shop.
Handled by Prestige Flowers on behalf of the charity, there's a selection of bunches to choose from, from luxury roses to multi-pastel coloured ones, aptly named Unicorn Roses.
You'll enjoy free tracked delivery on all fresh flowers and gifts, with 25 per cent of your spend donated to Cancer Research UK.
While the all-red bouquets are appealing, we've had our heads turned by the sunshine and candyfloss look of Rose Galore, an arrangement of 100 roses.
£30 | Cancer Research UK Flower Shop | Buy it now
Verdict:
For its exceptional smell, kaleidoscopic colour, longevity, value and the countless gasps of delight to all who saw it, Neill Strain’s orchid and rose stonker gets our ES Best Buy stamp of approval for 2020. The runner up? Wild Things Flowers – creative, arty and just plain dazzling, genuine sadness flooded the soul when it was time to say goodbye. Top marks for the packaging, too.
