A floristry class at a London flower school

What it is

London has a strong floristry trade, fed by New Covent Garden's wholesale market and by a revival of British-grown cut flowers. Several of its florists run schools, the McQueens Flower School among them, with short classes for beginners as well as long career courses. A typical class teaches the hand-tied bouquet: stripping stems, building a spiral in the hand so the bunch stands on its own, tying and wrapping. Others cover table arrangements, or in December a door wreath on a moss base. You work with whatever is in season and take home what you make.

Before you go

• Book well ahead for December wreath classes and for the weeks before Mother's Day.
• Wear clothes that can get wet and green, and flat shoes. You stand throughout.
• Ask which stems are British grown. Teachers are usually glad to say what is in season.

The flowers you will see

RoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursPeonyLarge spring flowers in pink, red, white, yellow and purple, grown in gardens worldwideDahliaA bushy perennial with tuberous roots and bright, star-shaped blooms

Also part of it, and being written: Ranunculus asiaticus, Sweet pea.

Read more

FloristryThe craft and trade of arranging and selling flowers

More in London

🇬🇧 London · All yearColumbia Road flower market on a SundayOne short East End street, packed every Sunday with plant and cut flower stalls and the calls of the traders. 🇬🇧 London · All yearNew Covent Garden Flower Market before sunriseLondon's wholesale flower market at Nine Elms, where the city's florists buy in the dark hours and the public may walk in. 🇬🇧 London · All yearA day at the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewOne of the world's great botanic gardens, with Victorian glasshouses, a huge tree collection and flowers in every month. 🇬🇧 Berkhamsted · Apr to MayBluebell woods on the Ashridge EstateOld beech and oak woods in the Chiltern Hills where native bluebells cover the ground for a few weeks in spring. 🇬🇧 Woking · Mar to OctRHS Garden Wisley through the seasonsThe Royal Horticultural Society's main garden in Surrey, where plants are tested, compared and shown at their best. 🇬🇧 Cranbrook · Apr to SepThe garden rooms of SissinghurstA Kent garden of hedged rooms made by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, known above all for its White Garden.