The Sydney Flower Market is especially beautiful and colourful at the moment. It's unfortunate that you can't make a visit right now, so we've brought you a look at all the beauties in season via this post.
But before we get stuck in, a few general care tips that apply to all flowers (do these things and guaranteed they'll last 1-2 days longer!):
- Remove foliage that sits below the water level to keep it clean.
- Change water and cut 1-2cm at an angle off the stem ends every couple days and every time the flowers have been out of water.
- Keep flowers somewhere cool, outside of direct sunlight.
Here are a few of our favourites:
1. Cosmos
Colours: these garden beauties come in white, mauve-pink and burgundy, normally mixed together in one bunch
How long they last in a vase: 3-6 days, depending on when the buds were harvested
Care Tips: avoid touching their heads as much as possible to extend the vase life.
2. Hydrangea
Colours: Still a couple of weeks left of these beautiful hydrangea in the autumnal speckled varieties, including light green with deep red, dark blue with speckles of burgundy and purple, white with speckles of pink.
How long they last in a vase: 5-10 days, depending on the size head and stage it was picked.
Care Tips: Some florists will have already done this for you, but if you find your hydrangea heads starting to go soft and droopy, cut 2cm off the ends at an angle and dunk about 2cm of the stem end into boiling water (this is called scalding). Bubbles will appear and dissipate, at which point you can take them out and put straight into the vase with cold water. This helps to keep the end of the hydrangea stem open so it will take in as much water as possible. Another option is to turn the hydrangea upside down so that the heads are fully immersed into cold water for 20-30 mins, as hydrangea can drink water through their heads.
3. Dahlias
Colours: Oranges, pinks, purples, reds, burgundys, plum, coral yellows, whites, and peaches.
How long they last in a vase: varies depending on the variety but can be anywhere from 3-5 days. Tighter, compact varieties last longer than the large ‘Cafe au Lait’ and other dinner plate varieties. As a rule of thumb, the larger and fancier the petals, the shorter the vase life.
Care Tips: Keep out of direct sunlight. They will wilt in the heat of the midday sun, better suited to a shady table. We’ve also found they last longer when the weight of the bloom is supported by other blooms or foliage, so try piling them on top of each other, or cut them low to be supported by the vase.
4. Tulips
Colours: oranges, pinks, peaches, reds, burgundy, purple, yellow, white,
Types: available to us in Sydney are single tulips, double tulips, parrot tulips and fringed tulips.
How long they last in a vase: 7-10 days
Care Tips: unlike most cut flowers, tulips keep growing in the vase, sometimes up to 15cm or more! They will bend upwards and curve toward light, so if you want them to stay straight keep the light source in mind, and use a tall vase for support, but it’s also really intriguing watching them bend and curve as the days pass.
As the tulips grow, keep removing extra leaves from the base of the stems so that they don’t rot and spoil the water.
5. Zinnias 
Colours: These are so fun! Salmon, bright red, burgundy, hot pink, orange, lime green, yellow, purple, pale green, dusty pink.
How long they last in a vase: the paler, muted colours tend to brown around the edges quicker than the bright coloured ones, so depending on the variety you can have them from about 3 days to one week.
Care Tips: Zinnias tend to dirty the water pretty quickly so make sure there's no foliage below the water level and change it daily.
6. Garden Roses 
Colours: different shades of almost every colour except for green and blue
How long they last in a vase: 5-7 days
Care Tips: Some individual petals might brown before others, this doesn’t mean the roses are dead, just gently pluck that petal and they’re good as new.
8. David Austin Roses
Colours available now: soft pastels – white, pink, and yellows.
How long they last in a vase: 3-5 days depending on the variety. Fairly short-lived, but the sweet smell makes up for it
Care Tips: Some individual petals might brown before others, this doesn’t mean the roses are dead, just gently pluck that petal and they’re good as new.
8. Flannel Flower
Colours: white with a soft silvery grey-blue foliage
How long they last in a vase: 7-10 days
Care Tips: Flannel flowers and leaves are covered by fine hairs that can cause an allergic reaction in some people, so it’s a good idea to wear gloves when handling
9. Poppies
Colours: the poppy season has JUST started, and these guys come in white, pink, red, yellow orange, sold all together in one mixed bunch.
How long they last in a vase: 5-7 days, depending on their stage of life
Care Tips: if you buy poppies closed in a bud and you really want them all to open, these three things will help them along:
- Scald the ends in boiling water for about 10 seconds (see same instructions for hydrangea)
- Keep vase no more than 5cm full of water
- After a few days, nudge them by peeling off the green furry cases
10. Scabiosa
Colours: white, lilac, “purple lace”, soft pink, raspberry, dark burgundy
How long they last in a vase: 5-7 days
Care Tips: Botrytis (a flower disease which causes the petals to brown) can develop if stems are packed together too tightly, so allow enough space for air to flow them.
If you like anything you see, we have a range of bouquet styles in our online shop you can order and we will always do our best to accommodate your request.
Cover image: Jonima Flowers Instagram
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