Wedding Flower Availability

Today's post will hopefully serve as an informative guide about cut wedding flower availability in Canada. During email inquiries and consultations I often receive questions about which flower varieties are in season for a particular wedding date. While many wedding blooms can be sourced year round there are some that remain seasonal for the best quality. Requesting blooms out of season can mean a higher price tag as they will likely need to be shipped from somewhere across the globe and sometimes out of season they can't be sourced at all.

Whenever possible we try to support our local Canadian flower growers in British Columbia and right here in Calgary and Southern Alberta. We have some incredible local flower farmers, with unique flower varieties and superb quality. With our wedding floral studio being located in Calgary, Canada we have a very limited growing season so we do need to supplement with imported flowers from California, Oregon, Florida, South America, Holland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. We buy lots of local beauties for our weddings and events especially in the spring, summer and fall when there are lots of Alberta + BC blooms to choose from.

This blog is a guide that includes some of our favorite wedding flowers and the months they are available. Some flowers like roses, lisianthus, freesia, carnations and orchids are available year round so we've also included a year round wedding flower category. Some flowers may over lap seasons or become available year round due to high demand, so this list will constantly be evolving. If there is a particular flower you are looking for and it is not listed below we can inquire directly with our wholesalers and growers to see when it might be available.

Please note that this blog is only a guide and not a guarantee that these flowers will be available. Even if a flower is listed under one season for being available the growing climate and conditions in different areas of the world as well as locally will still affect availability. Flooding, natural disasters, early or late starts to the seasons, pests, temperatures etc. can all have an impact on the availability of cut flowers available for wedding design work. The best thing to do is trust your floral designer and communicate with them about your preferred flower varieties or colour palette but also be open to their suggestions and have a back up plan in case peony session starts late or ends early! We do our best work when we can use beautiful, local, seasonal blooms and we offer a Designer's Choice option to our couples which allows us to choose the prettiest seasonal blooms in your colour palette of choice!

Spring {March, April, May}

Allium BC, Amaryllis (early spring), Anemones, Butterfly ranunculus, Clematis, Cymbidium Orchids BC, Eriostemon, Freesia, Frittilaria BC, Grape hyacinth/muscari, Helleborus, Hyacinth, Italian Ranunculus, Lilacs, Lily of the valley (May), Lupins BC (May), Leptospermum (March), Mimosa/acacia (March), Phlox (May), Peonies (late April + May), Pieris Flowering (Purity/ Bonfire varieties), Queen Anne's Lace, Scabiosa BC (May), Sweet Peas BC (May), Skimmia, Tulips (regular, French + Parrot tulips), Viburnum snowball, Viburnum Tinus

Summer {June, July, August}

Achillea/Yarrow, Aconitum/Monkshood (July + August), Agapanthus, Allium + Allium Drumstick, Amaranthus (upright + hanging), Asters (July + August), Astilbe, Asclepias, Astrantia, Blackberries/Bramble (July + August), Butterfly Ranunculus (June + July), Calendula, Campanula (June + July), Clematis, Cornflower/bachelor's button, Chocolate Cosmos (they smell like chocolate), Cosmos (July + August), Coxcomb/celosia (late summer), Craspedia, Crocosmia, Dahlias, Delphinium, Echinops/globe thistle, Eremurus (June + July), Eryngium/Sea Holly, Foxglove (June + July), Gladiolus (July + August), Gomphrena (August), Helleborus, Hydrangea, Italian Ranunculus, Kalanchoe, Larkspur, Lavender (July), Lisianthus, Lupins (June + July), Lysimachia (June + July), Nigella/Love-in-a-mist (July + August), Ninebark foliage, Orlaya (June + July), Pampas Grass (August), Phlox, Peonies (June until Mid July), Alaskan Peonies (August- Expensive), Poppies (July + August), Queen Anne's Lace, Roses, Scabiosa, Snapdragons, Spirea (June), Stock, Strawflowers/helichrysum (July + August), Statice, Sunflowers, Sweet Peas, Sweet William, Thryptomene (July + August), Tweedia, Veronica (July + August), Zinnias (late summer)

Fall {September, October}

Aconitum/Monkshood, Amaranthus (upright + hanging), Astrantia, Asters, Astilbe, Carthamus, Coxcomb/celosia, Craspedia, Crocosmia, Dahlias, Delphinium (September), Echinops/Globe thistle, Gomphrena, Hydrangea, Larkspur (September), Lunaria, Ninebark foliage, Nigella/Love-in-a-mist, Ornamental Kale, Pampas Grass (September), Pepper berries, Phlox, Pieris, Scabiosa, Queen Anne's Lace, Sedum, Silver brunia, Solidago, Snowberries (September), Statice, Strawflowers/Helichrysum, Sunflowers, Veronica, Zinnias

Winter {November, December, January + February}

Amaranthus hanging (November), Amaryllis, Anemones, Astilbe (November), Astrantia, Clematis (January + February), Freesia, Hellbores (January + February), Hyacinth (January + February), Italian Ranunculus, Nerine, Ornamental Kale, Peonies from NZ (December- expensive), Privet berries (November + December), Silver brunia, Skimmia, Tulips-regular, French + Parrot tulips (February)

Year Round

These year round blooms may come from BC or be imported from other countries but are accessible year round. Most still look the best when they are grown locally in season. For example I prefer not to use delphinium or larkspur unless they are grown locally in the summer time. The quality doesn't tend to be as good when they are imported. Roses look beautiful year round and there are many beautiful varieties that come from South America + Holland.

Amaranthus, Astilbe, Alstromeria, Bouvardia, Calla lilies, Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Daisies, Delphinium, Eryngium/Sea Holly, Freesia, Green Trick Dianthus, Gloriosa Lily, Hydrangea from South America, Hypericum berries, Iris, Italian Ranunculus, Larkspur, Liatris, Lisianthus, Ornithogalum/Star of Bethlehem, Pampas Grass dried, Roses (regular, garden + spray roses), Scabiosa, Snapdragons, Stephanotis, Stock, Veronica

Tropical blooms available year round are:

Anthurium, Birds of Paradise, Cymbidium Orchids, Dendrobium Orchids, Ginger, James Story Orchids, Mokara Orchids, Oncidium orchids, Phalaenopsis orchids, Protea (pin cushion, pink ice, king)

Additional sources for flower availability: Your Complete Guide to Wedding Flowers

Scroll down to see different bridal bouquets created for a variety of seasons.