Seasonal flower guide
If you’ve ever fallen in love with a particular flower only to discover it isn’t available for your wedding date, you’re definitely not alone.
Flowers have their own calendar. Some appear for only a few precious weeks, while others are commercially grown or imported and can be sourced for much longer periods throughout the year.
We’ve created a downloadable New Zealand flower availability guide to give you a better idea of what may be available each month.
Why choose flowers that are in season?
Choosing seasonal flowers means working with the best of what’s naturally available at the time.
They’re often fresher, more abundant and better value than varieties that need to be imported or sourced outside their usual growing season. Most importantly, seasonal flowers help your bouquet or arrangement feel connected to that particular time of year.
Think tulips and ranunculus in spring, peonies in November, hydrangeas and dahlias over summer.
What about imported flowers?
New Zealand’s growing conditions aren’t ideal for every flower throughout the year. Our cooler seasons, limited local production and comparatively small flower-growing industry mean certain varieties may be unavailable locally, even when they’re growing elsewhere in the world.
Imported flowers help fill these gaps and give us access to a wider range of varieties, colours and stem lengths. Depending on international supply, flowers such as calla lilies, anthuriums, chrysanthemums and Colombian roses can often be sourced for much or all of the year.
This can be especially helpful when we’re creating a particular colour palette or more sculptural floral style outside a flower’s natural New Zealand season.
Imported flowers do, however, come at a premium. Freight, biosecurity requirements, exchange rates and limited supply can all influence their cost. Availability and quality can also change unexpectedly, so even imported flowers can’t always be guaranteed.
Where possible, we’ll balance local, seasonal flowers with imported varieties to create the right overall look without unnecessarily increasing the cost.
A guide rather than a guarantee
Flowers are a natural product, so their seasons can shift slightly each year depending on the weather, growing conditions and the region in which they’re grown.
Availability can also vary between growers and between the North and South Islands. Some flowers in our guide are locally grown, while others may be commercially grown or imported.
For this reason, we can never guarantee an individual variety months in advance. We’ll always work within your chosen palette and overall vision, selecting the best flowers available at the time.
Download the guide
Whether you’re planning a wedding, choosing flowers for an event or simply curious about what’s blooming, our guide provides a general overview of flower availability in New Zealand from January through to December.
Planning a wedding or special event? Get in touch us to talk about your date, ideas and floral vision.
Image Credit: Hope Patterson