Wedding flowers in season in August

In season for a August wedding

1. OrchidsAt its peak

   Exotic · white, cream, lemon, green, apricot · vase life 14 to 28 days

   The Australian-grown cut orchid is the cymbidium, which flowers from late autumn through winter and into spring, roughly May to September. Cut spikes last for weeks, which makes them a favourite for winter weddings and long-lived arrangements. Tropical orchids such as dendrobium and phalaenopsis are in florists all year, largely imported from South-East Asia. Melbourne florists treat cymbidiums as a winter speciality, and potted orchids are a separate, year-round trade.

2. Roses

   Exotic · red, pink, white, yellow, orange · vase life 5 to 7 days

   Roses are at Australian markets every month of the year. Glasshouse growers keep a steady supply of long-stemmed roses, and field-grown garden roses, including David Austin types, run from about October to May with the best flushes in late spring and autumn. A large share of roses sold here are imported, mainly from Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador, and demand spikes around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Locally grown stems usually last longer and have more scent.

3. Grevillea

   Australian native · cream, orange-pink, pink, red, gold

   Grevilleas are among the most generous natives for cutting, because the large-flowered hybrids florists use flower on and off for most of the year. Cultivars such as 'Moonlight' (creamy white), 'Superb' (orange-pink), 'Misty Pink' and 'Honey Gem' (golden) are the usual cut stems, and each has its own rhythm rather than one national peak. The spidery flower heads are rich in nectar, which is why honeyeaters love the plants. Interest peaks in spring, when gardens are at their best, but stems can be found in most months.

4. TulipsAt its peak

   Exotic · red, pink, white, yellow, orange · vase life 3 to 8 days

   Tulips are a cool-season flower in Australia, at market from about June through to October. Winter stems are mostly glasshouse-grown from chilled bulbs, while field-grown tulips flower in late winter and spring, peaking in September and October in Victoria and Tasmania. Table Cape in north-west Tasmania is the country's biggest tulip farm, and spring tulip festivals run in Canberra, Bowral, the Dandenong Ranges, Toowoomba and Wynyard. They keep growing in the vase, so trim and top up often.

5. Lilies

   Exotic · white, pink, yellow, orange, red · vase life 10 to 14 days

   Lilies are grown year-round in Australia in climate-controlled glasshouses, so they are one of the most reliable flowers at market in any month. One of the biggest producers is in Wynyard, north-west Tasmania, supplying oriental lilies all year from a 20,000 square metre glasshouse. Orientals are the big, scented ones, while Asiatic and LA hybrids are unscented or lightly scented and come in brighter colours. Buds keep opening over one to two weeks.

6. ProteaAt its peak

   Grown here · pink, dusky pink, cream, white, red

   Proteas are South African, but they have long been grown in Australia and are sold alongside natives, often from the same farms, with plantations in every state. The popular Pink Ice flowers from late summer through autumn into winter, and a South Australian grower lists it from March to October. King protea (Protea cynaroides) flowers mainly in winter and spring. The protea industry notes June and July are traditionally slower months for supply. The heads last well in the vase and dry beautifully once they are past their best.

7. WattleAt its peak

   Australian native · golden yellow, lemon yellow, silver-grey foliage

   Wattle is Australia's national floral emblem, and golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha) flowers in late winter and early spring, peaking in August and September. National Wattle Day is 1 September. Australia has around 960 Acacia species, so some wattle is flowering in most months, but the florist season for fluffy yellow wattle is winter into early spring. Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana), with its silvery foliage, is a common cut line, and Brisbane's Northside Flower Market lists wattle in September. Buy it fresh and use it quickly.

8. Cherry blossom

   Exotic · soft pink, white, deep pink

   Ornamental cherries are grown here for the spectacle of the trees, not as a market cut flower, so the season is when they bloom. Sydney is early: the roughly 200 trees in the Japanese Garden at Auburn Botanic Gardens peak in late August, which is why the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival runs then (22 to 30 August in 2026). Melbourne and regional Victoria follow from September into October, with late September to early October the safest bet. Peak bloom only lasts a few weeks, and wind or heavy rain can strip the branches quickly.

9. AnemoneAt its peak

   Exotic · white, red, rose pink, magenta, lavender · vase life 4 to 7 days

   Anemones run alongside ranunculus through the cool months, at market from about June to October. Melbourne florists can see the first stems in May. The classic look is a white or jewel-toned flower with a dark, almost black centre, and they close up at night and reopen in light, which is part of their charm. They are grown locally, with some stems imported when demand runs ahead of supply. They are thirsty and do not like floral foam.

10. Chrysanthemums

    Exotic · white, cream, yellow, gold, peach · vase life 10 to 20 days

    Chrysanthemums flower naturally in autumn and spring, but commercial growers control day length to crop them all year, so they are at market in every month. They are the traditional Mother's Day flower in Australia, and growers such as one at Paper Beach in northern Tasmania plant months ahead to harvest tens of thousands of extra bunches for that one weekend in May. Spray types carry several small flowers per stem, while disbuds carry one big bloom. Vase life is excellent.

11. BanksiaAt its peak

    Australian native · gold, orange, red, cream, pinkish lavender

    Banksias are a big genus, and the cut-flower season depends on which species is in the bucket. The Western Australian types that dominate the trade, such as scarlet banksia (Banksia coccinea), Banksia hookeriana and Banksia menziesii, flower through the cooler months and into spring, and scarlet banksia runs from about May to December in the wild. Between the species there is usually a banksia at market for much of the year, strongest from autumn to spring. The heads last well and dry beautifully, so they turn up in dried arrangements too.

12. RanunculusAt its peak

    Exotic · white, lemon, apricot, orange, red

    Ranunculus are a cool-season flower, at Australian markets from about July to October, with some early stems from June and a tail into November in cooler parts of Victoria. They are grown commercially here, and small flower farms in Victoria, South Australia and the NSW Southern Highlands grow them for spring picking. Look for the Italian-bred Butterfly types with waxy, branching stems and the big multicoloured Festival series. Their tightly layered petals open slowly over a week.

13. DaffodilsAt its peak

    Exotic · yellow, white, lemon, peach, orange cup · vase life 4 to 6 days

    Daffodils and their scented cousins, jonquils, are a winter and early spring flower in Australia, at market from about June to September. Jonquils come first in mid to late winter, with the classic trumpet daffodils following into spring. They are grown commercially here, including in cool areas of Victoria and Tasmania. Daffodils are the flower of the Cancer Council's Daffodil Day in August. Their sap harms other flowers, so give them a vase of their own first.

14. Gerberas

    Exotic · white, cream, yellow, orange, apricot · vase life 7 to 12 days

    Gerberas are available year-round in Australia thanks to climate-controlled glasshouses. One of the country's largest gerbera farms, near Healesville in Victoria, grows around 450 varieties hydroponically under 1.2 hectares of glass. Garden gerberas flower through the warmer months and rest over winter in cool climates. Big, flat daisies in almost every colour except true blue, they come as standards and minis. Picked at the right stage they can last two weeks or more.

15. Carnations

    Exotic · white, cream, yellow, orange, apricot · vase life 8 to 20 days

    Carnations are available year-round in Australia from glasshouse and field growers, topped up by imports. Carnations, along with roses and chrysanthemums, are among the biggest imported flower lines, mostly from Colombia, Kenya and other large exporters. They are one of the longest-lasting cut flowers, often going two weeks or more, and come in an unusually wide colour range including green, khaki and many bi-colours. Standard, spray and Sweet William types are all common at market.

16. Magnolia

    Exotic · white, pale pink, deep pink-purple, cream

    Magnolias in Australia are mostly garden and street trees, so their season is really when they flower. Deciduous types bloom on bare branches in late winter and early spring, roughly August and September, and star magnolia is usually first. They flower most reliably where winters are cool, and a late frost can brown the open blooms. Cut branches do reach the flower markets for a short spell, and Brisbane's Northside Flower Market lists magnolia as a winter line. The evergreen Magnolia doltsopa flowers creamy white through winter.

17. Sweet peas

    Exotic · white, cream, apricot, salmon, pale pink · vase life 5 to 7 days

    Sweet peas are a late winter and spring flower in Australia, at market from about August to November, with Melbourne florists seeing them mainly August to October. Gardeners traditionally sow them around Anzac Day in April, which is why searches spike in autumn, and plants flower about twelve weeks later. Short, fragrant and fragile, local spring sweet peas smell far stronger than out-of-season stems. They stop flowering once the weather turns hot.

18. Everlasting daisy

    Australian native · pink, white, yellow

    Everlastings are the paper daisies that carpet Western Australia's Mid West after good winter rain. The pink and white Rhodanthe chlorocephala subsp. rosea, along with yellow species, flower from late winter into spring, and Coalseam Conservation Park near Mingenew is the classic place to see them, with timing shifting each year with the rain. Their 'petals' are really papery bracts that hold their colour when dried, which is why they sell as dried flowers as much as fresh. As a fresh cut flower they are a limited, seasonal line.

19. Boronia

    Australian native · brown and yellow, yellow, burgundy-red, deep pink

    Boronia is prized for scent more than looks. Brown boronia (Boronia megastigma), from south-west Western Australia, has small cup-shaped flowers, brown outside and yellow inside, with an intense perfume; it is sought after by the cut-flower trade and also used for essential oil. Red boronia (Boronia heterophylla) gives deep pink bells. Both flower in spring and the cut window is short, so ask your florist from late winter. It struggles in humid subtropical and tropical climates, which is why most stems are grown in the south.

20. Freesia

    Exotic · yellow, white, pink, red, mauve

    Freesias are South African bulbs that flower in spring here: August to October in Perth and September to October in south-east Australia. They are loved for their scent, and each stem carries a row of buds that open one after another. Market supply runs much longer than the garden season, with Brisbane's Northside Flower Market listing freesias from February through to December. They have also naturalised as a weed in parts of southern Australia, so keep bulbs in the garden and away from bushland.

21. WaxflowerAt its peak

    Australian native · white, pale pink, pink, purple, two-tone

    In the Australian flower trade, waxflower means farmed Chamelaucium hybrids, bred largely from Geraldton wax (Chamelaucium uncinatum) and its relatives. Western Australia is the heartland, with the main commercial harvest from about July to November, and newer plantings near Melbourne extend it into late November and early December. Florists use it as a long-lasting filler, in bud or open. Breeding, including by Kings Park's plant development team, has produced whites, pinks and purples in many flower sizes. For the wild shrub and where to see it flowering, see Geraldton wax.

22. Eucalyptus

    Australian native · silver-blue, grey-green, green, red-tinged new growth

    Eucalyptus is foliage, not a flower, but it is the backbone of Australian floristry. Farmed gum foliage is available all year, with silver-leaved types such as silver dollar gum (Eucalyptus cinerea) and 'Baby Blue' (Eucalyptus pulverulenta) the florist favourites, plus stems of gum nuts. Some species also give flowering stems and coloured buds in their own seasons. The waxy leaves hold up well in a vase and dry nicely. Brisbane's Northside Flower Market lists gum and gum nuts across autumn, winter and spring.

23. Sturt's desert peaAt its peak

    Australian native · blood red with black centre, white, pink, red and white bicolour

    Sturt's desert pea is the floral emblem of South Australia and one of the most striking wildflowers in the country: blood-red pea flowers with a glossy black centre, held in clusters on sprawling stems. It grows in the arid inland of every mainland state except Victoria and flowers after rain, anywhere from July to March. It is a protected plant in South Australia and should never be picked in the wild. It is fussy to grow and rarely sold as a cut flower, so this is one to see growing rather than buy.

24. Geraldton wax

    Australian native · white, pink, purple

    Geraldton wax is the wild species behind the waxflower sold by florists. It is a Western Australian shrub of the coastal sandplains between Perth and Geraldton, flowering through winter and spring with white, pink or purple blooms and fine, aromatic, needle-like leaves. Seeing it in flower is part of the WA wildflower season, and Kings Park's waxflower and kangaroo paw garden shows the species beside hybrids bred by the park's own team. The farmed cut stems are covered under waxflower; leave wild plants unpicked. It also makes a tough, bee-friendly garden hedge.

Australian natives for August

Grevillea, Wattle, Banksia, Everlasting daisy, Boronia, Waxflower, Eucalyptus, Sturt's desert pea and Geraldton wax are in season. Natives hold up well out of water, which helps with buttonholes and long receptions.

• Grevillea
• Wattle
• Banksia
• Everlasting daisy
• Boronia
• Waxflower
• Eucalyptus
• Sturt's desert pea
• Geraldton wax

Favourites that are out of season in August

These are often asked for by name. In August they usually come imported or from cool storage, so the price and colour range can differ. Ask your florist for a quote and a seasonal swap.

• Peonies
• Hydrangea
• Lisianthus
• Dahlias
• Gardenia

Questions couples ask