UFL logo

Types of flowers: names, photos and Vase Life

ID:
9010
Total views:
305248
Category:
Published:
Updated:


Prepared with UFL flower delivery. There are hundreds of thousands of flowering plants. Below is a short look at the blooms people actually put in a bouquet: origin, meaning, and how to keep them in a vase. There is a separate guide to hydrangeas: types, varieties and care. Learn more in how to care for cut flowers. See also the most beautiful flowers in the world, a top 20 with photos. More about this flower in gypsophila: types, care and bouquets. Another long-lasting bouquet flower is alstroemeria: its meaning and care. Another blue summer flower is delphinium: how to grow it and what it means. More plants for your beds: garden flowers with photos and names.

When popular garden flowers bloomJFMAMJJASONDTulipsDaffodilsPeoniesRosesLiliesLavenderDahliasChrysanthemumsApproximate, outdoors in Ukraine
Flowering calendar

Flower catalogue sections

The catalogue is grouped into themed sections: pick one to see all its articles, or find a flower in the A–Z index at the bottom of the page.

Roses

Red rose buds
View full-size photo

The rose is the world’s most ordered cut flower. Wild species are tens of millions of years old; people have grown them for about five thousand years — in gardens, perfume and herbal preparations. Read more in our complete guide to roses.

To keep a bunch longer, put the stems into clean water filling three-quarters of the vase and top it up every day. Recut the stems at an angle. Still the default for Valentine’s Day and birthdays.

Rose bouquets: ufl.ua/en/kyiv/catalog/roses-kyiv

Carnations

Pink carnation
View full-size photo

Carnations come in three types: standard blooms with one large flower per stem, spray types and dwarf types. Standards grow past 50 cm; sprays are shorter but carry several flowers on a branch. Read more in carnations: meaning and who to give them to.

Colour changes the reading: pink for a mother’s love, white for luck and good intent, yellow for disappointment. That is why carnations appear both at celebrations and on memorial days. In the garden they want sun and soil that drains.

Chrysanthemums

Yellow spray chrysanthemum
View full-size photo

The chrysanthemum came from China more than 3,000 years ago and is still the autumn flower of northern gardens. It blooms from late summer to frost: white, yellow, burgundy, lilac. Read more in types of chrysanthemums.

In the ground it is a perennial if it roots before winter. Petals are used for tea; young leaves are sometimes eaten as greens. In a vase it lasts well and holds the shape of a mixed bouquet.

Chrysanthemum bouquets: ufl.ua/en/kyiv/catalog/khryzantemy-kyiv

Peonies

Pink peony buds
View full-size photo

Local peonies arrive in late May. The season is short — often only a few weeks, depending on the weather. Colour runs from white and coral to burgundy and a rare yellow. Read more in peonies: types, varieties and care.

A bush can reach a metre and a half, so give it space for years ahead. In a vase the flower opens from a tight bud: keep it cool and change the water daily.

Peony bouquets: ufl.ua/en/kyiv/catalog/pivonii-kyiv

Alstroemeria

Pink alstroemeria
View full-size photo

Alstroemeria is also called Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas. It is native to South America. Warm shades — pink, salmon, orange — read as friendship and loyalty.

It flowers in late spring and early summer. Cut stems last a long time if they never sit dry. Water a pot only when the top of the soil has dried, not on a fixed daily schedule.

Asters

Purple aster
View full-size photo

Asters belong to September. The name is Greek for “star”: narrow petals in blue, lilac, pink or white packed into a tight head. Read more in asters: types and meaning.

Most garden kinds come from Eurasia. They pull in bees and butterflies at the end of the season. Given for autumn birthdays and as a flower of a 20th wedding anniversary.

Azalea

White and pink azalea
View full-size photo

Azaleas cover themselves in late spring with white, pink, red or lilac flowers. They prefer light shade under trees and acidic soil.

The plant is toxic: keep it away from children and pets. It is usually given in a pot, not as cut stems.

Buttercup

Yellow meadow buttercup
View full-size photo

Buttercups grow across temperate Asia, Europe and North America. The petals look lit from inside because the cells bounce light. Most are yellow; a few are white or pink.

The look is gentle, the sap is poisonous to people and animals. Florists more often use the garden cousin — ranunculus.

California poppy

California poppy, Eschscholzia
View full-size photo

Eschscholzia is the state flower of California. Petals are gold, orange, sometimes red. They open in sun and close in cloud and at night.

Unlike the opium poppy, it contains no opiates. It is rarely used as a cut flower — more a splash of colour in a garden.

Calla lily

Pink calla lily
View full-size photo

A white calla reads as purity and faith, so it appears in church and funeral work. Coloured cultivars also go into wedding bouquets. Read more in calla lilies: meaning and symbolism.

In a vase it lasts up to two weeks. The stem is hollow — change the water often and recut with a sharp knife.

Crocus

Purple crocuses
View full-size photo

Crocus is one of the first flowers through the snow. Cups come in lilac, white, yellow and bicolour. Read more in growing crocuses.

A separate autumn species gives saffron; the stigmas are harvested mostly in Iran. Crocus almost never goes into a bouquet — the season is short and the bloom is fragile.

Dahlias

White and pink dahlia
View full-size photo

Dahlias flower from midsummer to the first frost. Forms run from pompon to cactus. They take light shade better than many summer plants.

The root is a tuber: in a cool climate you lift it for winter and plant again in spring.

Daisies

White field daisy
View full-size photo

Daisies and their relatives grow on every continent except Antarctica. White petals around a yellow disc read as simplicity and honesty.

For a bouquet use large garden kinds; field daisies drop petals fast. Keep the water clean and strip leaves below the waterline.

Daisy bouquets: ufl.ua/en/kyiv/catalog/kvity-romashky-kyiv

Daffodils

Yellow daffodils
View full-size photo

Daffodil, jonquil, poet’s narcissus — all belong to Narcissus. The bulb winters in the ground and makes more stems each year if the soil drains.

The sap irritates skin and spoils other flowers in the same vase: stand daffodils alone for a few hours, then mix them with roses. National flower of Wales, and a 10th-anniversary bloom.

Delphinium

Blue delphinium
View full-size photo

Delphinium, or larkspur, throws tall spikes of blue and lilac. Florists like the height and the uncommon cool colour.

The plant is toxic. Recut the stem and put it in water at once — the hollow stalk draws air quickly.

Dusty miller

Silver dusty miller foliage
View full-size photo

Dusty miller is grown for the lacy silver leaf, not the flower. In a bouquet it is the grey spacer next to pink, burgundy and violet.

It comes from the Mediterranean: sun, heat, dry soil. In a vase, do not soak the foliage above the stalk.

Gardenias

White gardenia
View full-size photo

Gardenia has a heavy scent and a waxy white flower. It wants acidic soil (pH about 4.5–5.5) and even moisture — drought drops the buds.

As a cut flower it is fussy: keep it away from fruit and do not touch the petals.

Geranium

Red geranium
View full-size photo

The balcony “geranium” is a pelargonium from South Africa. In a temperate climate it is treated as an annual or brought indoors for winter.

Flowers come in red, salmon, white and bicolour. Scented leaves go into potpourri and work as an insect deterrent. Rarely used as cut stems.

Gerberas

Red gerberas
View full-size photo

Gerbera sits just behind rose, chrysanthemum, tulip and carnation in cut-flower sales. Colour runs from cream to deep red and orange. Read more in gerbera bouquets.

Found in South Africa in the 19th century, then bred in England and the Netherlands. The stem is hollow: do not fill the vase more than 5–7 cm or it rots.

Iris

Blue garden iris
View full-size photo

Iris grows from Europe to Asia and North America. It is the flower of a 25th wedding anniversary and the model for France’s fleur-de-lis. Read more in irises: legends and meaning.

The rhizome of some species (orris root) is used in perfume. In a bouquet it opens fast — keep the room cool.

Lavender

Lavender field
View full-size photo

Flowers by colour

The colour of a bouquet says as much as the type of flower: white means purity and new beginnings, yellow joy, pink tenderness and purple admiration. We have separate collections of flowers in each colour with names and photos.

Collections: white flowers, yellow flowers, pink flowers, purple flowers, green flowers, black flowers, orange bouquets, peach bouquets. The rarest palette is covered in blue flowers.

Flower meanings

In the 19th century lovers exchanged messages through bouquets, giving rise to the language of flowers. Today its rules help choose meaningful flowers for a declaration, a thank-you or an apology.

Read: the language of flowers, the flower horoscope and birth month flowers. See which flower matches each month in birth month flowers.

Which flowers to give

Choose the type and colour of flowers to suit the person and occasion: tender roses or hydrangeas for Mum, red roses for a partner, restrained dark-toned arrangements for a man. Here are our tips for different situations.

Tips: flowers for Mum, flowers for a girlfriend, a bouquet for a man, wedding flowers for guests, funeral flowers, flowers for allergy sufferers, which flowers are bad form, gift ideas to go with flowers, long-lasting cut flowers.

Seasonal flowers

Seasonal flowers are fresher, more fragrant and often better value. In spring that means tulips, daffodils and primroses; in summer peonies, hydrangeas and sunflowers; in autumn chrysanthemums, asters and dahlias.

Calendar: seasonal flowers by month, the first spring flowers, flowers in May, summer flowers, August flowers, autumn bouquets.

For the garden: flowers that bloom all summer, shade-loving flowers.

Fascinating flower facts

Flowers are more than bouquets. They have their own records, look-alikes, regional names and even end up on our plates.

More: the most popular flowers in Ukraine, the most fragrant flowers, wildflowers, flower look-alikes, different names for the same flowers, the largest flowers in the world, edible flowers, flowers dangerous for children and pets.

Correct Ukrainian flower names

Many flower names in everyday Ukrainian are borrowed from Russian. Here are the correct Ukrainian names:

  • aster — aistra;
  • peony — pivoniia;
  • dahlia — zhorzhyna;
  • lily of the valley — konvaliia;
  • lilac — buzok;
  • cornflower — voloshka;
  • sunflower — soniashnyk;
  • marigold (Tagetes) — chornobryvtsi;
  • pansy — bratky;
  • pot marigold (calendula) — nahidky;
  • water lily — latattia;
  • snowdrop — pidsnizhnyk, not to be confused with scilla (prolisok).

For a full list of autumn plants with photos, see autumn flowers: names and photos.

A–Z index of flowers

Every flower and plant with its own article on our blog. Click a name to read about types, care and meaning.

A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · K · L · M · O · P · R · S · T · V · W · Z

A — African violets, Aglaonema, Alocasia, Aloe, Alstroemeria, Anemone, Anthurium, Aspidistra, Asters, Astilbe, Azalea

B — Begonia, Bird of Paradise, Bonsai, Bottlebrush, Brunia

C — Cacti, Calamondin, Calathea, Calla lilies, Camellia, Carnations, Carnivorous Plants, Chamomile, Cherry Blossom, Chlorophytum, Christmas Cactus, Clematis, Clivia, Cornflower, Cosmos, Craspedia, Crocus and Saffron, Croton, Cymbidium

D — Daffodils, Dahlias, Delphinium, Desert rose, Dieffenbachia, Dracaena

E — Echeveria, Echinacea, Eryngium (sea holly), Eucalyptus

F — Ficus, Forget-me-not, Freesia, Fritillaries, Fuchsia

G — Gardenia, Gentian, Geranium and Pelargonium, Gerbera, Gladioli, Gloxinia, Grape hyacinth, Gypsophila

H — Hellebore, Heuchera, Hibiscus, Hippeastrum, Hosta, Hoya, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Hypericum

I — Indoor Jasmine, Indoor Palms, Irises, Ivy

K — Kalanchoe

L — Lavender, Leucadendron, Lilac, Lilies, Lisianthus, Lobelia

M — Madagascar Periwinkle, Magnolias, Matthiola, Mimosa, Monstera, Morning glory, Multiflora Chrysanthemum

O — Oleander, Orchid, Oxypetalum, Ozothamnus

P — Parlour Palm, Passion Flower, Peace Lily, Peonies, Peperomia, Phacelia, Pilea, Plectranthus, Poinsettia, Poppy, Pothos, Primula, Protea

R — Ranunculus, Rhododendron, Rosemary, Roses, Rudbeckia, Ruscus

S — Sacred lotus, Schefflera, Scindapsus, Sedum, Skimmia, Snake Plant, Snowball Viburnum, Snowdrop, Solidago, Spirea, Spray roses, Statice, Streptocarpus, Succulents, Sunflower

T — Tanacetum, Trachelium, Tradescantia, Tuberose, Tulips, Types of chrysanthemums

V — Verbena, Veronica

W — Waxflower, White Water Lilies

Z — ZZ Plant

More: violet bouquets, growing chrysanthemums.

Author: Maria Svitlovir Read more in lavender as a gift.

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.