Lady’s Review of a Class at the Covent Garden Academy of Flowers

It’s wedding season. Every weekend from now until autumn, everyone I know will be attending a wedding at least once a month. To get into the spirit, I’ve decided to pick up a new skill. No, it’s not flirting with groomsmen (although I could probably benefit from that). It’s making bouquets. To that end, I’m taking a Covent Garden Academy of Flowers class.

Covent Garden Academy of Flowers

First things first: I’m not an artistically talented individual. I was always the kid that rushed through art projects in school and relied on the knowledge that everyone gets good grades in art class no matter how artistically challenged they are.

As such, when I was invited by the Covent Garden Academy of Flowers to attend one of their floristry classes in London, I had low expectations for the result of my hand-tied bouquet.

Covent Garden Academy of Flowers Class

But I arrive with a positive attitude. After all, I have a long history of asking for extra help with the thought that however badly I screw up an artistic endeavor, there will always be someone more talented than I to rescue my project (and more importantly, let me take credit for it).

I’m going to go home with a pretty bouquet if it takes the teacher all afternoon to undo my work.

New Covent Garden Flower Market

With that in mind, I meet my classmates at the New Covent Garden Flower Market, which despite the name is actually located just south of the river in Vauxhall.

The market, which is open to the public, is one of the best places in London to buy flowers, both for their quality and price.

With 60 vendors and an impressive array ribbons, vases, and other paraphernalia for sale, it’s a flower lover’s dream come true.

We take a tour of the market with Gillian Wheeler and her daughter Fleur, the owners of the Covent Garden Academy of Flowers.

As they lead us, we fawn over pink crowns of hydrangeas at Bloomfield of London and breathe in the refreshing scent of eucalyptus at Porters Foliage.

Afterwards they let us loose to explore the narrow aisles full of everything from seashells to bud vases.

The Class

At the end of the visit, we step back out into the sun—the market is refrigerated and I have become a human ice cube—and board the tube to travel into Covent Garden.

The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers is right in the heart of the city in St Martin’s Courtyard, and the tiny shopfront belies the large size of the basement workshop.

How to Arrange Flowers

Down we go, sitting around a big table to learn how to arrange flowers. The first tips are helpful for any kind of flower arranging, whether it’s supermarket flowers for the home or a professionally made wedding bouquet.

Here are the top tips:

1. Remove all leaves that will sit below the water line. It’s not good to have leaves sitting in water, and it doesn’t look (or smell!) pretty either.

2. Before putting flowers into water, cut the stems at an angle at least 1cm above the end. This makes the ends into virtual straws, helping the flowers draw water and stay fresh longer.

3. Cut thorns off roses. Anyone that has ever pricked a finger on a rose thorn will understand this one.

How to Make a Hand-Tied Bouquet

After mastering the basics, we learn how to make a hand-tied bouquet. There’s a lot more to it than I ever imagined, but there are a few tips and tricks that guide us in the right direction.

Here are the highlights:

1. Foliage is key to making an interesting bouquet. Foliage and filler flowers take up a lot of a bouquet, and the texture of the foliage is important to making a visually pleasing arrangement.

2. Put flowers with fine stems on the inside. This will help protect the stems and keep the delicate flowers alive longer.

3. With flowers, remove all leaves below the top few. The top leaves are the only ones that are important for the bouquet.

4. When making a bouquet, start with one stem and add the others in a spiral pattern around it. This helps keep the shape of the bouquet and gives it form and structure.

5. Once the bouquet has taken shape, add one-off flowers like roses in strategic places. Roses are “queens”, so make sure they stick up a little bit higher than the rest of the bouquet.

The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers Workshop

After watching a demo, we set off in the Covent Garden Academy of Flowers workshop to make our own bouquets. Buckets of flowers, filler, and foliage line the back of the room, and each of us chooses an ideal combination.

As I make mine, I am once again reminded of my lack of artistic talent. My foliage all ends up at the back, and every time I touch the bouquet, I seem to break more of my flowers.

Eventually I rely on my old tricks and stand by while the instructor fixes it for me. Thankfully, she has talent enough for the both of us, and my bouquet ends up looking as professional as I hoped.

When we’ve all finished, we tie the bouquets with twine and learn how to wrap them with water in the bottom of the cellophane so they stay fresh even as we transport them home.

How to Make a Button Hole or Boutonniere

We take a break for lunch, then return to wrap up the day with a session on making a button hole, or boutonniere. As with the bouquets, I hadn’t realized how much effort goes into making them (there are over seven pieces of wire in one small boutonniere!).

This part of the class seems like a bit of an afterthought, and a few people leave after the bouquets are finished. Still, it’s nice to know what goes into another important part of the wedding flower package.

The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers: The Verdict

And you never know, maybe I can use this knowledge to pick up that skill of flirting with groomsmen (“hey baby, do you know how boutonnieres are made?”). Or not.

Either way, I’m glad I’ve taken a Covent Garden Academy of Flowers class to learn how to make a hand-tied bouquet. That’s a skill I’ll always value.

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