Ok, perhaps this is a bit of a vent..
Let’s talk about Peonies. Seems these days it is the number one requested flower by brides, right?? Problem is, they often want this flower in August, September, early October and for the most part peonies are just not available. I know what some of you will say, that peonies are available from Alaska, Chile, Timbuktu, etc.
Ok, so let’s look at what these really look like at this time of year:
This is a white peony a friend of mine received for a July 4th wedding. The correct retail price for this little gem? $22.75 per STEM! Do you see how tiny it is?? Perhaps you cannot see it, because it is so tiny:
Only $22.75 per stem!
This little pink guy is from this past week, I got my hands on a few for a Sept. 2nd wedding. Yes, it’s impressive that I could get peonies this late in the season, but is it really worth it? The retail price for this stem? $12 per stem. Not bad considering it is September, although the wholesaler cut me a deal so that’s why the lower price.
Only $12 per stem!
WOW, right?
Plus, let’s face it, the brides expect the peonies to look like this:
Bridal bouquet designed by Courtenay Lambert Florals of Kentucky
Annabella Charles Photography
White peony & clematis arrangement by Florali
**SIGH**
Let’s face it, at some point we just have to let peonies go for the season and use lovely garden roses & dahlias instead..
Whoop! Whoop! The more of us florists who write posts like this the better! One day seasonality and not fashion will be way in which the industry helps Brides to decide what flowers are best for them. Actually, in fairness, a lot of my lovely Brides do want to know what’s in season and come to me because that’s what I promote. A fab post … knowledge, experience and working with nature – it’s got to be the way forward! xx
Alicia, I’ve talked about this in my blog too, I’m very surprised at how many brides want peonies when they are not in season and the size of the peonies are tini tiny and we are expected to pay upwards of $10 a stem which is crazy especially for the size of them. I usually tell brides that I will be able to get just enough for their bouquet but not enough for everyone on their wedding party. AND of course, the pricing of their bouquet will reflect that.
Amen! And not only are they small, they constantly fall apart when their season is at its end. You end up with maybe 1-2 stems that are actually useable and then you’re holding your breath that they last.
I can’t agree more! In this part of the world I can still get what may seem like a baigain ($5 a steam) but they are just not in a very good shape. Most of the available peonies are the Sarah Bernard ones and my heart dies just thinking they were harvest 3 moths ago and stored in the cooler, no wounder they die almost instantaniously. I now found a really good substitute, enghish garden roses! have you tried these beauties? pity they last only for a few days…