Rosie on a Budget
You don't need a florist's budget to have flowers that make you stop and stare. These are my honest picks for anyone who wants beauty without the price tag — supermarket bunches, garden-grown stems, and the ones that keep giving all season long.
I've chosen flowers that punch well above their price point. Some are ridiculously cheap as cut stems, others are the kind you plant once and enjoy for years. All of them look far more expensive than they are.
Carnation
Budget-FriendlyChabaud Mixed
“That warm, spicy, clove scent is one of the most underappreciated things in the flower world.”
The most underrated cut flower in Britain. Supermarkets sell them for almost nothing and they last a fortnight in a vase. In the right colour, they're genuinely beautiful.
123 Flowers do a lovely mixed carnation bunch that's brilliant for the price — I buy them for my desk all through winter.
Chrysanthemum
Budget-FriendlyAutumn Glory
“An armful from the supermarket for under a fiver, two weeks in a vase, and they glow in lamplight like a handful of autumn itself.”
The budget hero. Ridiculously long vase life, pennies per stem, and in autumn they're everywhere. Stop turning your nose up at chrysanths — Rosie's orders.
Honestly, your nearest supermarket will have these. But if you want them delivered, 123 Flowers do solid autumn bunches that won't break the bank.
Snowdrop
Budget-FriendlyGalanthus nivalis
“That first cluster pushing through cold January soil — a private message that says we're still here, it's going to be alright.”
Free if you know where to look. Ask a gardening friend for a clump — snowdrops are best moved 'in the green' and most gardeners are happy to share.
Cornflower
Budget-FriendlyCentaurea cyanus
“A blue so particular it became the name for the colour. Grow them alongside ammi and nigella and you'll never need a florist again.”
That impossible blue. Grow from a 99p packet of seed and you'll have armfuls all summer. The best colour-to-cost ratio in the flower world.
Sunflower
Budget-FriendlyVelvet Queen
“Not the sunflower you're picturing. Deep, smouldering burgundy-red that glows from the inside when the late summer light catches her.”
Grow-your-own at its most rewarding. Children love them, bees love them, and that deep russet colour is far more sophisticated than the usual yellow.
123 Flowers carry sunflower bunches through late summer — not always Velvet Queen specifically, but the darker varieties turn up sometimes and they're always a pleasant surprise.
Daffodil
Budget-FriendlyThalia
“The daffodil for people who think they've outgrown daffodils. Pure white, gently nodding, and quietly elegant in a way that stops you mid-step.”
Ten bulbs for a couple of pounds, and they come back every year. Thalia is the elegant one — white, nodding, and far classier than your average daffs.
123 Flowers do perfectly decent spring daffodil bunches — not always Thalia specifically, but the white varieties are worth asking for.
Sweet Pea
Budget-FriendlySpencer Mix
“The scent hits you before you see them — warm honey and fresh-cut grass on a June evening. If summer had an official flower, this is it.”
A packet of seed, a few sticks, and you'll be picking armfuls from June to September. The scent alone is worth the very modest investment.
Clare Florist sometimes have sweet pea bunches in high summer — I always grab them when they appear because the season's short.
Gypsophila
Budget-FriendlyBristol Fairy
“A great cloud of it in a wide-mouthed vase — it's like having a small, very pretty weather system on your kitchen table.”
Baby's breath has had a renaissance and I'm here for it. A big cloud of it in a vase is surprisingly modern. And surprisingly cheap.
123 Flowers do a decent bunch of gypsophila at a price that lets you buy the armfuls you need — and you do need armfuls.
The best flowers aren't always the most expensive ones. Sometimes a 99p bunch of carnations in the right colour, in the right vase, in the right light, is the most beautiful thing in the room. Trust your eye, not the price tag. — Rosie
Rosie ✿