Looking Ahead to April: Britain's Spring Flower Peak
April is when British spring flowers reach their fullest expression. Tulips at their most extravagant, the first ranunculus, cherry blossom in the gardens. Here is what to expect.
There is an argument to be made that April is the finest flower month in Britain. The narcissi are still holding on from March; the tulips are at their absolute peak; ranunculus have arrived in quantity; and cherry blossom, technically not a cut flower but an overwhelming seasonal presence, fills the parks and gardens of the country with a beauty that is partly so affecting because everyone knows it lasts approximately one week. If you are going to engage with flowers as a seasonal pleasure, April is when that engagement produces the best possible returns.
The tulip at its best
British tulip season runs from March through May, but April is its heart. The late-flowering varieties, which include some of the most dramatic tulips available, are at their best in April: parrot tulips with their fringed and ruffled petals, the enormous double-flowered tulips that look more like peonies than anything conventionally tulip-shaped, and the deep, almost black varieties that have become increasingly popular for their architectural impact. The British tulip industry, though small, produces flowers of exceptional quality in April from growers in Lincolnshire and Norfolk.
Cherry blossom and what it teaches
Cherry blossom cannot be ordered from a florist. It exists only in the moment, in the parks and street trees that bear it for precisely one week before wind and rain strip the petals and the display is over for another year. The reason people are moved by cherry blossom is not its beauty alone but its brevity, and that brevity teaches something applicable to all seasonal flowers: the reason to buy narcissi in March, tulips in April, sweet peas in June, dahlias in September is that their seasons are finite. The pleasure of flowers is partly the pleasure of what is available now and only now.
“April flowers are not better than any other season's blooms. They are simply the ones you have waited for since November, and that waiting is part of what makes them so good.”
Making the most of April flowers
- Buy tulips in bud and watch them develop: they continue to open and grow in the vase
- Ranunculus should be bought tightly closed if you want the longest display
- British-grown tulips are available from April: worth seeking out for freshness and sustainability
- Sweet peas bruise easily — choose loose bunches and handle lightly
- For the most dramatic April arrangement: parrot tulips alone, in a wide vessel, allowed to do whatever they want
Continue reading
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