Which Flowers Last Longest in Gold Coast Heat?

Advice written for a temperate climate does not survive a Gold Coast February. The Bureau of Meteorology’s records for Gold Coast Seaway put our February average maximum at 28.7°C, across 34 years of it. Humidity, heat and a car boot between us and the recipient change what is worth sending, and it is worth knowing which flowers take it well.

What holds up best in the heat

• Australian natives. Banksias, proteas and leucadendrons evolved here. They are woody, they hold water, and they are close to indestructible in a warm room. They also dry beautifully instead of rotting, so they have a second life.
• Orchids. Singapore orchid sprays are tropical by origin and behave like it. Two to three weeks is normal.
• Chrysanthemums. Unglamorous reputation, exceptional stamina. They routinely outlast everything else in the vase.
• Anthuriums and tropicals. Waxy, structural and entirely at home in humidity.
• Carnations. Genuinely tough, and the modern varieties are a long way from the ones people remember.

What struggles

Anything soft, thin-petalled or built for a cool spring. Sweet peas, poppies and ranunculus are lovely and they are not summer flowers here. Hydrangeas drink enormously and wilt fast in heat. Fully open roses go over quickly, though roses that arrive in bud do far better.

None of this means never send them. It means send them in the right months and keep them out of the sun when you do.

Does it matter what time of day it is delivered?

Yes, in summer. Flowers left sitting on a doorstep in afternoon sun for two hours will not recover, no matter how good they were when they left us. If nobody will be home, send to a workplace instead, or ask for a concierge or reception drop where the building has one.

We would always rather you told us "nobody is there until six" than found out afterwards.

What we do at our end

Everything is arranged the morning it goes out rather than made up in advance, which matters far more in summer than in winter. Stems are conditioned in water before they are built, and boxed arrangements travel with their own water source, which is one reason we suggest them so often for hot days and long runs.

The most heat-proof thing we sell

A plant. A peace lily or a potted orchid does not care that it is thirty-two degrees, and it is still there at Easter. For an office, a hospital room or anyone who travels, it is usually the better gift in summer regardless of budget.

If you want the safest cut flower for a hot week

Send orchids or something built around roses in bud rather than fully open blooms, and ask us to keep it away from the softest stems. We are very happy to build to "it needs to survive a hot flat with no air conditioning", and that instruction genuinely changes what we put in it.