We are used to counting food miles so why not flower miles,  the miles a bunch of flowers incurs in getting to your vase. Many supermarket and petrol station now source flowers from long distances such as South Africa, Venezuela, or Kenya as well as Spain and Holland. If you must buy rather than grow your flowers look for British. Lincoln Cornwall and the Channel islands are normal UK suppliers but there is a trend for even more local supply.

Best Flower Sources in Great Britain

• Your own garden should have a plentyful supply of flowers measured in flower yards not miles. Where would we be without Sweetpeas?
• Your neighbors may be willing to give the odd bunch of flowers away and you can reciprocate with your excess Sweetpeas.
• Allotments dug and fertilised by your own sweat are not just for Vegetable. Try some Chrysanthemums and Dahlias as part of a flower cutting area.
• Wayside farm gates and smallholdings often have a bucket of locally grown flowers for sale at reasonable prices. Why pay for lots of transport and supermarket margins when you can support a British enterprise.

Is this about British national flowers or a shop owned by George Bernard Flowers or even the wholesale florist in Hull? The picture is the later the former is the main thrust of this section of the article.

National Flowers.

• The rose was adopted as England’s emblem around the time of the War of the Roses 1455-1485 when Yorkshire sported the white rose and Lancastrians the red rose.The two roses were combined to make the Tudor rose (a red rose with a white centre) by Henry VII when he married Elizabeth of York.

• In Northern Ireland the shamrock a three-leaved plant similar to a clover is the symbol. It is said that St. Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

• The thistle is a prickly-leaved purple flower which was first used in the fifteenth century as a symbol of defence and the ‘Flower of Scotland’.

• The national flower of Wales is usually considered to be the daffodil and is worn on St David’s day. However, the leek has even older associations as a traditional symbol of Wales

• Holland and Hungary have both chosen the Tulip whilst France prefer the Iris. Germany have the knapweed and Greenland the willow herb but I guess nothing much flowers in Greenland anyway. Indonesia has cornered the flower market by selecting three national flowers Phalaenopsis, Rafflesia and Jasmine.

The rose, thistle and shamrock are often displayed beneath the shield of the Royal Coat of Arms.  There is a more comprehensive listing on The Flower Expert