Peony Care, Tips & Tricks

Peony Love

Throughout the many years of running my wedding business there was one flower that everyone loved and yes that was the peony. With its beautiful shades and ruffles it certainly defines femininity and beauty.

But these cut flowers can sometimes be a little tricky to care for and work with. So in this blog I have created some information that will hopefully give you lots of tips and tricks so you can feel confident when you are designing with them.

Information about peonies

Peonies are beautiful flowers, which come in a variety of colours from whites, to dark reds and an array of pinks.

The growing season for them in Britain is relatively short, June is the peak month. Although peonies start showing up on the flower auctions in Holland as early as February, I always advise students who attend Flourish Sussex Flower School to never buy them this early. The cost is high and the condition is low.

Types of Peonies

There are three different types of peonies: herbaceous peonies, tree peonies and intersectional peonies. The main differences are that herbaceous peonies die back to the ground in winter and then regrow in the spring, while tree peonies have woody stems that remain throughout the year. Intersectional peonies are a hybrid between herbaceous and tree peonies.

Peony Types

There are lots of different types of peonies. Some have single heads, while others have double. Some of the most popular varieties come in shades of pink. One of the most popular varieties is Sarah Bernhardt, while a personal favourite of mine is Gardenia which is a very soft pink mixed with white.

The flowers can be very large and when in season you can manipulate them to suit your design.

Designing with peonies

Working out when to get your peonies is the first step when designing with these flowers. If you are creating a large archway you will probably want your peonies to be very open. Depending on the weather, if it is a cool week you may want to get them in as early as Tuesday before a Saturday wedding so they can be open and full. However if it is hot, the later the better.

If you are using them for a smaller arrangement or the couple want them to not be too open it is important to get them in as close to the wedding as possible, especially if you are working with them at peak season.

Monitor the weather. If it is going to be warm and you don’t want them to open too much get them in on the Thursday or even better on the Friday, condition them and then keep them somewhere dark and cool.

If you want them to open up more you can gently push back the petals, this will bring the petals out and will transform your peony into a large open flower.

Care Tips for Peonies

• Once you have got your peonies in ensure that your buckets or vases are clean and add cold water to them.

• If you are buying them directly from a florist or a supermarket go for the ones that are bud, not the ones that are in full flower, these will last longer.

• Use clean, sharp floristry scissors or pruning shears to cut the stem at a 45 degree angle. This helps to prevent damage to the stem and allows the flower to drink more easily.

• Remove lower leaves, so that the water can go directly to the flower.

• If you are using a vase make sure it is a heavy duty one. Peonies are heavy flowers and you don’t want your display to tip over with their weight.

• Ensure that you change the water every two to three days, this will help the peonies to live longer and some can survive up to two weeks.

• Make sure you keep your display someone cool and away from direct sunlight.

Questions about peonies

I hope you have found this blog useful. If you have any questions or have any other tips that you have found useful when arranging with peonies please do comment below.

Peonies are a firm favourite here at Flourish Sussex Flower School, so during the summer months you will find them in our flower school a lot! If you are keen to find out more about how to flower arrange with us visit our workshop page by clicking here.

Alicia xx

A new home for Flourish Sussex Flower School

Happy New Year to you all. When I started Flourish Sussex Flower School back in 2018 I didn’t have a long term plan, I just wanted to open a school that provided more of an up to date style of floristry. One that was inspired by art and creativity and not restricted by rules.I wanted a space where students could be immersed into a beautiful world of nature, colour and design.

Randolphs Farm in Hurstpierpoint has been our home for the last four years. Two studios later it has provided me with the space to grow the school and teach so many wonderful courses and workshops.

From March 2023 we will be moving to a new home at Pitfields Cutting Garden. This wonderful British cut flower garden is run by Emma Martin and Peter Bell. I met Emma back in 2019 and I take all our Foundation students for a talk and a tour at Pitfields. Our businesses have grown together , so it seemed like a natural step for Flourish to move to the converted barn at Pitfields where all courses and workshops will be run from.

As the school has developed sustainability has become a key cog in the mechanics of the schools teaching. No foam will be found here and now we moving towards using more and more of British flowers in our teachings.

When students come to the school they will see what it is like to be a grower and will get to use the flowers and foliages that they can see growing right in front of the school.

I am beyond excited for this next step in my flower journey, so if you are booked onto a course or workshop from March we will look forward to welcoming you to our new space at Pitfields Barn in Hurstpierpoint West Sussex.

5 Great Things About Running your own Floristry Business!

Maybe running your own floristry business has been a dream of yours for many years. Maybe you hate your current job and have decided it is time to do something for you. Whatever your reason for starting your business is it will be an adventure, with lots of challenges and hopefully lots of rewards. But a long the way you may have some self doubts (this is total normal) so here are my five things I believe are great about running your own floristry business.

1: Working with Nature

Don’t loose sight of the beauty that you get to work with. Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed by life I go for a walk, work in my garden and absorb myself into nature. As florists we get to work with the very best ingredients that mother nature grows and I feel super lucky to work with such beauty and natural elements everyday.

2: Follow your Passion

The saying ‘you only live once’ may be something that we think about but don’t act upon. Enjoying what you do is so important. Building a business is hard work, but if you have passion this will shine through what you do and will push you to keep going when times are tough. Showing others your passion will help you to build your business and will add to your happiness. Having passion for what you do is the foundation to any business. If you are passionate about it then you will work so hard to get others on board and that is the beauty of building a business based on passion.

3: Show Yourself What You Can Do

A business is a great way to push yourself to do things that you never thought you would do. The school has been open since 2018 and during that time what started as a few workshops has now turned into me teaching career courses, wedding workshops, seasonal classes, creating dried floral displays for shops and events. It has pushed me to be stronger, more confident in ways that I could have never imagine in early 2018.

Tackling social media has been one of my biggest challenges. It is an area that I have never been 100% comfortable with, but as the business has grown so has my following, and that is something I am very proud of. I totally believe that running a business can push you out of your comfort zone, which is such an important thing to do during your life. It shows us what we are capable of and even facing our fears can sometimes have the most wonderful results.

4: Working With The Seasons

Don’t underestimate how wonderful it could be to work with beautiful products and with the seasons. Floristry, or floral design is so much more than simply making bouquets. There are so many links with fashion, interior design, art work. As with fashion and interiors, colours and trends are often set within our industry. Whether you choose to follow these trends is up to you as the designer. But the beauty of working with the seasons is not just about focusing on the flower content, we can draw on the wonderful palettes that each season provides us, as well as looking at texture in nature throughout the year. Whatever challenges floristry throws at us, working seasonally will keep you inspired and always feeling creative.

5: Fitting it Around you Life

I am not suggesting that you will have loads of free time if you are running your business, you will probably get up early, work in the evenings and it might even sneak into your dreams. But it is possible to make it fit around your life, whether that is making sure you can go and see your kids in a play, or be there for sports day, or whether it’s going to run along side other work you do. Growing a business doesn’t mean that you need it to be the size of Amazon. Think about what turnover you want to get to, what fits around your life and make sure you can balance it with the other important aspects of your life.

If you have ever thought about floristry why not pop along to one of our open mornings. I might be bias but it is a wonderful industry to be part of and why not follow you dreams and begin your floral journey with Flourish Sussex Flower School today!

Alicia xx