Wedding flowers in season in December

In season for a December wedding

1. 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.

2. FrangipaniAt its peak

   Exotic · white with yellow centre, pink, apricot, yellow, crimson · vase life 2 to 3 days

   Frangipani is the scent of an Australian summer. Trees flower through the warm months, roughly November to April, in Sydney, Brisbane and along the east coast, and can flower year-round in the tropical north. Cut blooms are fragile and last only two or three days, so they are mostly used as single flowers for hair, leis, cake decorating and floating in bowls rather than as long-stemmed bunches. Colours run from classic white with a yellow centre through pinks and apricots to deep red.

3. Hydrangea

   Exotic · blue, pink, white, mauve, green · vase life 7 to 15 days

   Hydrangeas are a summer flower in Australia, at market from about December to March, with December the high point for fresh mopheads. In Victoria they carry on into autumn, when the heads age into the green, burgundy and dusky pink "antique" tones florists love, usually by April. Blues, pinks, whites and mauves are all grown locally. Heads are big and thirsty, so a floppy hydrangea usually just needs a long drink.

4. 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.

5. GardeniaAt its peak

   Exotic · white, cream · vase life 3 to 5 days

   Gardenias flower from late spring into early autumn in Australia, most heavily over summer, so November to February is the time to find them. Their creamy white flowers have one of the strongest scents of any garden flower, but they bruise if you so much as touch the petals and last only a few days once cut. That fragility is why they turn up more as buttonholes, corsages and single floating blooms than in mixed bouquets. They are grown locally and do not travel well enough to import.

6. Sunflowers

   Exotic · yellow, lemon, bronze, deep red, pale cream · vase life 7 to 10 days

   Sunflowers are a summer flower in Australia, at market from about December to March, with January the peak. Melbourne florists source many from Sunraysia and around Mildura, and glasshouse crops stretch availability over much of the year. Summer sunflower fields in regional Victoria and Queensland draw big crowds, usually for only a few weeks each year. Beyond classic yellow they come in lemon, bronze and red, plus fluffy Teddy Bear types.

7. 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.

8. Kangaroo paw

   Australian native · red and green, yellow, orange, pink, green

   Kangaroo paw is a Western Australian native, and the red and green Anigozanthos manglesii is the state floral emblem. In the wild and at Kings Park it flowers from late winter into spring, with August to October the best viewing, and the tall Kings Park-bred hybrids are in full flower in October and November. Farmed hybrids carry cut-flower supply through spring into summer, and some flower on and off all year. The long, velvety stems are tough, which is why florists use them for height and texture.

9. Peonies

   Exotic · blush pink, white, coral, deep rose, red · vase life 5 to 7 days

   Australian peonies have one of the shortest runs at market, roughly late October to early December. Victorian farms in the Macedon Ranges, Yarra Valley and around Geelong usually lead in late October and November, while Tasmanian growers pick from mid-November into mid-December. Coral and red types such as Coral Charm tend to arrive first, with whites and then pinks following. Peonies you see in autumn, around Mother's Day, are almost always imported from the Northern Hemisphere.

10. Lavender

    Exotic · purple, mauve, violet, white

    Lavender is a summer flower here. At Bridestowe Estate in north-east Tasmania, Australia's best-known lavender farm, the fields bloom in December and January and are mostly harvested by February, with mid-December to mid-January the best time to visit. Fresh bunches are around in early summer, and dried bunches keep the season going all year. Brisbane's Northside Flower Market lists lavender over a much longer window, from September to April, so fresh stems can turn up well outside the Tasmanian bloom.

11. 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.

12. NSW Christmas bush

    Australian native · red, deep red, cream (flowers before colouring)

    NSW Christmas bush is Sydney's Christmas flower. Small white flowers open in late spring, then the sepals behind them swell and turn red through November and December, and that red is what florists sell. The plant grows naturally along the NSW coast and tablelands, mostly on sandstone, and the colour usually holds until the sepals are shed around February. Demand peaks in the weeks before Christmas, so order early. In Canberra it runs later, with flowers opening from December and colour sometimes lasting into autumn.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Lisianthus

    Exotic · white, cream, pink, apricot, green · vase life 7 to 14 days

    Lisianthus is a summer and autumn flower in Australia, most plentiful from December to May. Growers in hot inland areas like Sunraysia in north-west Victoria raise them in hothouses under shade cloth, and glasshouse crops mean you can find some stems most of the year, with supply thinnest in winter and early spring. They look like a soft, ruffled rose, come in whites, creams, pinks, apricot, green and purples, and are one of the longest-lasting cut flowers you can buy.

16. DelphiniumAt its peak

    Exotic · blue, white, pink, violet

    Delphinium is a cool-climate perennial that flowers in spring and summer here, so Australian-grown stems are at their best from late spring into summer, roughly October to January. It is a tall spike flower, prized for clear blues that few other flowers manage, plus white, pink and violet. Brisbane's Northside Flower Market also lists it as a seasonal autumn line, so stems can appear outside the local peak. Its annual cousin larkspur is the traditional birth flower for July, which falls in our winter, well outside the local delphinium season.

17. 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.

18. Flannel flower

    Australian native · white, cream, grey-green

    Flannel flower is a soft, grey-white, daisy-like native of the NSW and south-east Queensland coast and ranges. It flowers gradually through the year but peaks in spring, from September to November, carrying into early summer. Demand has long outrun supply, because it is hard to propagate and grow commercially and bush picking is being wound back, so out-of-season stems fetch a premium. Wild flannel flowers should be left alone and picking them is restricted in NSW, so buy farmed stems. The velvety texture is the whole point, so handle them gently.

19. 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.

20. Christmas lily

    Exotic · white

    The Christmas lily is the white trumpet lily, Lilium longiflorum. In Australia it flowers naturally in November and December, which is how it got its name. ABC Gardening Australia calls it an excellent cut flower, and small farms sell field-grown bunches in the weeks before Christmas, such as Reus Flower Co near Ballarat and Ivy and Twig. It is also grown from bulbs in home gardens, where it opens in early summer. Most lilies at the florist in December are glasshouse orientals and Asiatics, so ask for Christmas lilies by name if you want the white trumpets.

Australian natives for December

Grevillea, Kangaroo paw, NSW Christmas bush, Eucalyptus, Flannel flower and Sturt's desert pea are in season. Natives hold up well out of water, which helps with buttonholes and long receptions.

• Grevillea
• Kangaroo paw
• NSW Christmas bush
• Eucalyptus
• Flannel flower
• Sturt's desert pea

Favourites that are out of season in December

These are often asked for by name. In December 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.

• Ranunculus
• Orchids
• Tulips
• Sweet peas
• Dahlias

Questions couples ask