Whether you’re looking for something to spruce up your home or a gift to give a loved one, a bouquet of beautiful flowers would never steer you wrong.
Flowers have always been a great gift for any occasion. You could get a bouquet to celebrate an anniversary, to lend your condolences, or to say congratulations. No matter what the occasion, flowers always lift spirits.
But you don’t always have to be giving flowers away, keep some for yourself every once in a while! You can use them to bring a fresh pop of colour and a slight floral scent to any room in your home.
London has many options to go to for flowers. Even most grocery stores have ready-to-go bouquets when you’re in a tight pinch. However, we don’t settle for anything that’s just fine – we want the best. The places on this list go above and beyond. Some have rare blooms, others excel in the perfectly arranged custom bouquet.
No matter what, these places are the ones that really harness London’s flower power.
FOREST OF FLOWERS
Holding the title of London’s Best Florist from the London Free Press since 2012, Forest of Flowers is the top dog in London when it comes to flowers. Finding them isn’t hard either, with nine locations within the London city limits, another one in St. Thomas, and six more across Ontario.
They haven’t gotten this big for no reason though. Their flowers are flawless and fresh, their variety is staggering, and their same-day local delivery guarantee must have saved the butts of forgetful spouses more times than we can count.
Forest of Flowers has a veritable menu of arrangements to select from. Not unlike many of the pizzerias on the list from a previous Best Of, you can either build your own, picking specific blooms rather than pizza toppings, or choose from one of their ready-to-go floral designs. When you’re looking online, you can sort by a bunch of different criteria – occasion, price, flower colour, et cetera – and pick the one that best suits your needs.
Or head into one of their many stores and talk to the florist. They are absolutely brilliant when it comes to making recommendations and figuring out the perfect arrangement for you. Their expertise and experience will help hone your general concept into a perfectly balanced arrangement for you or a loved one you’re gifting it to.
At the Forest of Flowers, you’ll never be disappointed. Their commitment to the freshest flowers will give you or your chosen recipient the longest time with your flowers looking their best.
GROW & BLOOM CO.
Even if you aren’t necessarily familiar with the name, most Londoners will recognize the building. Their mint green storefront catches the eye of passersby on Richmond Row each and every day. Peering past the façade and into their bay window, you’ll see the store full of lush greenery, all of which you could take home with you. Grow & Bloom was opened in the summer of 2017 by Robin Lavery and Bobby Darling, two individuals brought together by love for plant life. Robin is a horticulturist, while Bobby is a florist. Together, the two have control over both the scientific and the artistic aspects of their botanical business.
There is a plentiful variety of plants to select from at Grow & Bloom. They have a wide selection of indoor plants, including succulents and small cacti to adorn a coffee or side table, or if you’re looking for something larger they’ve also got large tropicals.
As for flowers specifically, they have a fresh cut flower bar, stocked with rare or unique blooms for creating arrangements or bouquets. They pride themselves on having flowers that you just won’t find anywhere else, making Grow & Bloom the go-to for gorgeous arrangements, whether it be for an event or just to decorate the home.
Grow & Bloom has a very modern appeal, curating a very specific aesthetic for their shop and passing it along to customers. The trend of mixing minimalism, nature, and rustic architecture has been all the rage the last couple of years, and Grow & Bloom fits that niche perfectly. Clearly, they have the nature aspect locked down tight, but their peripheral items to go along with plants match the vibe as well – they offer pottery, lighting, and home décor that would feel at home on any #aeshetic Instagram post.
Grow & Bloom is a flower fanatic’s dream, but offers more than just plants, they offer a meticulously curated aesthetic for your home that fits the current trend. Grow & Bloom is a great place to help boost your aesthetic to new levels.
BLOOMERS AT THE MARKET
While the Covent Garden Market may be bustling, there is always time to stop and smell the roses at Bloomers at the Market. You can find them on the main floor of the market building in the Downtown core, just across the aisle from Hasbeans and Waldo’s Bistro.
Bloomers offers a bevy of locally grown flowers, as well as many from around the world, which they expertly combine into gorgeous bouquets, perfect for gifting on any occasion or just to keep to yourself and brighten up a room in your home.
Whether you’re ordering in store, online, or over the phone, owner Alanna and her team of florists at Bloomers are incredibly friendly, passionate, and helpful. They pride themselves on having distinctive arrangements that their customers love. They give guidance based on your request and price range, pointing you in the right direction for a well-balanced arrangement.
You can order your bouquet in store, online, or over the phone. Then either pick it up when it’s ready or have it delivered to any local address. If you order before 1PM on weekdays, they can even do same day delivery!
If you’re looking for a gift and flowers just aren’t quite enough, Bloomers also offers custom gift baskets, featuring products from many other vendors in the Covent Garden Market. Chocolates, coffee, tea, and cheese that can all be found in the market separately are made available in their variety of themed baskets, including Healthy Choice basket, or its equal and opposite, the Sweet Tooth basket.
TANIA FLORAL DESIGN
The titular Tania of Tania Floral Design is Tania Dupon-Martinez, a florist and lover of all things green. She personally hand selects each and every bud and bloom that goes into your one-of-a-kind final product. Tania Floral Design is not a “grab and go” type of florist. She only takes customers by appointment. She uses these appointments to understand what it is her customers are looking for and get a feel for their personalities. When crafting her arrangements, Tania strives to create arrangements that reflect her clients and their uniqueness.
Tania gracefully weaves together classic and modern elements, creating arrangements entirely unique to each client. By combining inspirations from different eras and styles, her designs are timeless, which makes her the perfect choice as florist for an event, such as a wedding, where many pictures will be taken. Tania offers custom floral elegance. She is definitely not a last-minute option to pick up a bouquet for an anniversary that slipped your mind, but with 2-3 days notice, Tania will have a gorgeous, custom arrangement ready for you.
TIME 4 FLOWERS
At Time 4 Flowers, there’s never a wrong time for flowers. Whether you’re celebrating a wedding, or sending your condolences, the Time 4 Flowers team will have a perfect, beautiful bouquet for the occasion.
The Time 4 Flowers team is headed by Rosemary Nyhoff, a self-described hopeless romantic that just can’t get weddings out of her system. She graduated with honors from a Floral Design course in 2014 and by 2016, she was already recognized as London’s Favourite Florist as well as winning a Couple’s Choice Award from WeddingWire.
Weddings are a Time 4 Flowers specialty. It begins with a complementary consultation for the team to understand the feel of the weddings – your vision, colours, dresses, and budget. Once they have your preferences collected, they put together a proposal for you. After that has been agreed upon they get to work and finalize delivery times for the big day!
Although she is a massive fan of weddings, she felt she wanted to expand beyond matrimonial floral design and become a florist for every occasion. One of their other largest sellers is a sympathy arrangement. If someone special has passed, Time 4 Flowers will honour their memory with a personalized bouquet.
Time 4 Flowers is driven by passion. It started as a passion for weddings, and has since expanded into a passion for providing a premium service to all Londoners for any occasion.
THE FLOWER LADY AND GENTLEMAN
You’ll have to journey southwest of London to experience this florist, but The Flower Lady and Gentleman is definitely worth the mileage. Suzanne Glasgow and Paul Mailloux, the Flower Lady and Gentleman respectively, began selling gladiolus in 1994 and almost a quarter century later, they’ve grown so far beyond selling flowers on the side of Fanshawe Road.
The Flower Lady and Gentleman is based just outside of London on their flower farm by Dingman Creek. They have about 2.5 hectares of farmland that Paul tends. Being right on the farm, customers get to experience the majesty of fields of bright reds, yellows, purples, and whites of the flowers they grow. This also guarantees that the flowers are as fresh as can possibly be!
The farm is only open from July through until the fall as a result of the Ontario climate, but the winters don’t go to waste! Paul spends the cold months researching new seed varieties, always looking to expand and find something new to share with Londoners. His constant search for more flowers has resulted in the farm growing 30 to 40 types of annuals and another 100 perennial varieties.
Their original concept for the flower shop was to have customers build their own bouquets, but that idea went out the window quickly when Suzanne realized no one had a single clue what they were doing. Ever since, Suzanne has been the head of bouquet assembly. Mixed bouquets are her biggest sellers, including a variety of both their uncommon annuals and perennials to create a look that is unique and creative. Their bouquets attract people from all around the London area, they’ve even sent flowers as far as Muskoka for a wedding. It should also be noted that The Flower Lady is only open from Thursday to Sunday, so if you’re in need of flowers from Monday to Wednesday, you’ll need to plan ahead and go visit them on the weekend before. For a florist that offers a great experience along with a great bouquet, The Flower Lady and Gentleman is more than worth the trek out of the city.
HEEMAN'S GARDEN CENTRE
While they may be best known around town for their ridiculously delicious strawberries, Heeman’s is also one of the largest garden centres in the city. While this is not strictly a florist, it is a fantastic place for all of your floral needs.
The garden centre spans 120,000 square feet of land, both greenhouses and outdoor garden. This massive expanse is an oasis of plants of all kinds, from succulents to veggies, shrubbery and, of course, flowers.
Heeman’s has more varieties of flower than you can shake a stick at, from the classic rose to geraniums. The Heeman’s Garden Centre is your one stop shop for flowers of any type. They have an assortment of annuals and perennials that will give your home and garden new life.
Understandably, all of this could be overwhelming to a botanical novice. Thankfully, there are over 80 expert staff, or Daymakers as they call them, on site at any given time. The Daymakers at Heeman’s are greenery gurus, with the knowledge to help you make your selection for either a gift or to grow your own garden. Whether you’re picking up an arrangement as a gift or some plants still in their soil to plant in your garden, Heeman’s will have an abundance of options to pick from in their massive space.