What we look for when we buy flowers

We buy several times a week, and a large part of the work happens before we start tying anything. Here is what we look for – and what you can look for yourself, wherever you buy flowers.

The stem first, the bloom second

A beautiful flower on a tired stem will not last. The stem should be firm and stand straight, not bend just below the head. If it is soft there, the flower has gone without water at some point, and it rarely recovers fully.

The cut end should look pale. Dark, dull stem ends mean the flower has been standing too long.

Opening stage decides when the bouquet peaks

This is probably the most important part, and the one most often overlooked. We choose the opening stage according to when the flowers will be used.

• For delivery today: flowers just about to open. They look finished straight away.

• For a wedding in two days: tighter buds. They peak on the day rather than before it.

A fully open rose is beautiful in the shop and finished in three days. A bud that is too tight may never open at all. The right point sits between the two, and it differs from variety to variety.

The foliage tells the truth

Leaves give it away before the flower does. Yellow edges, limp leaves or brown tips mean the batch is older than it looks. We always check the foliage, even when we end up stripping most of it off.

Colour in daylight

Flowers look different under shop lighting than they do in a home. We judge colour in daylight, where you can see whether a white is cream or grey, and whether a pink is warm or cool. It sounds like a detail, but it is the difference between a bouquet that holds together and one that does not.

Can the flower do a job?

Beyond quality, we think about role. Does it have an interesting shape? Can it give movement or line? A technically perfect flower that can only be round is less useful than a slightly irregular one with character.

Scent

We think about it in context. Strong scent is lovely in a hallway and too much on a dining table or in a room with a newborn. If the bouquet will sit near food or people for hours, we choose low-scent varieties.

What we leave behind

We do not buy flowers simply because they are cheap that day. A bouquet tied from leftovers looks like a bouquet tied from leftovers, however well it is put together.

Read next

• Next step: how we build a bouquet

• See the range: fresh bouquets in Copenhagen

• On longevity: why seasonal flowers never look the same