Claude Monet famously said “I must have flowers, always and always,” – and he was obviously onto something. Flowers say what words cannot. They tell joy, love, sympathy, stories. Flowers make days.

Looking for some beautiful flowers to gift? (even if it’s for YOU – I won’t tell.) In no particular order, here’s your go-to list of 10 great florists and floral artists in Adelaide, ranging from established florists of distinction, to hill-dwelling garden growers, and flower fanciers who sell their creations at local markets.

They are all beautiful options to call upon for different reasons and occasions – and they are all in the business of flowers for the sheer love of their craft.

East End Flower Market

New to the Adelaide Florist scene and nestled in Adelaide’s East End, you’ll find this beautiful flower-filled space that is brightening days around Adelaide, and sending local Instagramers into a bit of a spin.

Owner Justine Ellbourn is the vibrant, fresh + lovely lady behind East End Flower Market. Her presence is warm and inviting, her flowers are wrapped in love. And you know, there’s apothecary bottles and terrariums propped in the windowsill and so alluring, that you can’t not venture inside.

In the words of Justine: “the warmest moments in my day are when someone smiles and asks me for a bunch, but to do whatever I feel is right for them. They trust me to know their style, and what they are after. I choose my version of themselves, or the person they are buying for, and express it in floral form. I get to share my love for something with, often, a stranger. We get to connect on a level and I think there’s something special about that.”

248 Grenfell Street, Adelaide

+ Phone: (+61 8) 8223 1280
+ Website: http://www.eastendflowermarket.com.au
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastendflowermarketADL
+ Instagram: @eastendflowermarket
+ Email: hello@eastendflowermarket.com.au

Little Love Co.

Sitting pretty in the heart of the bustling Norwood Parade, Little Love Co. is a beautiful haven filled with bright blooms and abundant foliage, so exquisite that I sometimes wonder whether it’s been secretly uprooted from the winding streets of Le Marais in Paris. Owner Haley loves to work with flowers in their most natural form, celebrating what is seasonal, beautiful and unique.

From concept and sourcing to design and presentation, Little Love Co. prides themselves on creating something special for each customer.

Shop C, 166A The Parade,  Norwood

+ Phone: (+61) 0404 406 821
+ Website: http://www.littlelove.co
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norwoodflowermarket
+ Instagram: @ littlelovecoflowers
+ Email: hello@littlelove.co

Settle Petal Co.

Spending her weekends frolicking the local markets to support handmade businesses in South Australia, and popping up her own stall here and there, Kayla of Settle Petal Co. is breaking the rules of floristry by turning her art and love of flowers into something edgy, quirky and fun.

Kayla’s love for flowers came from her mother, and her business name inspired by hearing it too often by her father, when she needed to take a ‘chill pill’. Amongst working full time in Wine Logistics and spending quality time with her loved ones, Kayla spends her evenings and weekends with her other love: flowers. At Settle Petal Co, Kayla likes to like work in odd numbers, experimenting with colour and flowers and not being afraid to try something different.

+ Phone: (+61) 0422 167 822
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settlepetalco
+ Instagram: @settlepetalco
+ Email: settlepetalco@outlook.com

 Plant Cultuur vessels + stands [by a.nouk]

For Josline Koolen, Creative Director of spatial styling, plant installations & floral art @ a.nouk [style directive], creativity, experimentation and the ability to express herself in multi-disciplinary ways goes to the core of who she is.

Because of this, any styling service, product design or piece of art created is a very personal and unique extension of herself, intended to transform a space and breathe bravery, boldness and texture into any installation, occasion and collaboration.

“By projecting my touch of Dutch detail through handcrafted architectural shapes, ‘Plant Cultuur’ vessels + stands [by a.nouk] looks to balance the beauty of form and necessity of function, while defying mediocrity. So evoking within people a joyful and tactile relationship with their plants, cut florals, and decor,” says Josline.

+ Phone: (+61) 0408 805 969
+ Website: www.anoukstyle.com.au/plantcultuur
+ Instagram: @anoukstyle_s
+ Email: plantcultuur@anoukstyle.com.au

Ponder Posy

For owner + floral creator Rebecca, Ponder posy is about flowers – a posy full of heart and gentle chaos. It’s about crooked stems that won’t fit in a vase and broken leaves that let the sun shine through. It’s about watching petals fade, crinkle, decay even, and eventually fall. Die – let them stay there, where they have fallen. It may be even more beautiful than when they were fresh. Ponder and muse. The art of a flower arrangement.

You can find Ponder Posy creations propped outside the front of Tinker, on The Strand, Colonel Light Gardens.

26B The Strand Colonel Light Gardens

+ Phone: (+61) 0410 344 872
+ Instagram: @ponder_posy

Austin Bloom

When visiting this gorgeous Balhannah hideaway, I stepped inside to flooded light, creaky floorboards and an oasis of green. Then I met Estee – bubbly, disarming smile and completely lovely – and I was greeted like a beautiful friend I’d not seen in years.

Austin Bloom offers fresh bunches, posie parties, weddings/events, botanical installations and immersive experiences. Austin Bloom is driven purely to challenge and push the boundaries of traditional floristry.  Architectural shapes and lines are important – and the balance of colour and texture is key. They use many varieties, including soft flowers and native flowers, combining these in unique ways.

Estee, having studied both glass and graphic design, looks at flowers as a palette of colour and structure from which to create forms and designs.  In her words, “there is certainly a nostalgia with flowers, one that takes me back to my childhood, my father’s garden, the Sunday school posy, and my mother’s love of all things pretty – to this day she is never without short stems in collected vases along her kitchen window sill.”

Let it be said, I really wish they offered their florist space as an office space by the square metre, because I would happily set up my workspace at the window. With the crisp morning hills light, Cocolat cafe next door and lovely blooms surrounding me, I’d likely never leave!

Estee is also running Mother’s Day Posie Making Workshops at Fox Gordon, King William Rd, Goodwood – very few tickets left, so hop this way – quickly! “Workshops are a wonderful way of connecting with the community and a brilliant opportunity to share with others what we are passionate about.  We have found it rewarding and encouraging to see participants so content with a sense of achievement,” says Estee.

81 Onkaparinga Valley Rd, Balhannah

+ Phone: (+61 8) 8398 0440
+ Website: coming soon!
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austinbloom.hills
+ Instagram: @austinbloom_adelaide
+ Email: estee.austinbloom@gmail.com

Poppies Flowers

An unassuming shopfront on the ever-hectic Glen Osmond Road, when you step into Poppies you will be transported headlong into an enchanted forest. A towering flower display stands before you, with vintage bathtub filled with water lilies and reeds off to the left . I spy lemon branches, billy buttons, Queen Anne lace, burnt orange and copper autumn leaves and dreamy dahlias (my favourite) and my heart beats faster. On the countertop are orange-spotted toadstools steaming up a bell jar, with persimmon + pomegranate fruits and haphazard twigs propped, and poppy flowers twisting organically towards the sun.

Owner Sally lives and breathes her craft – her passion is unquestionable. At Poppies you can anticipate seasonal compositions infused with true personality and unique style. Sally is an avid collector and with enviable secret sources, finding the right pieces is a challenge welcomed. An elegantly rustic anthology of mason and medicine jars from Paris, London and New York, rickety vintage crates from as far and wide as Amsterdam and as local as the Adelaide hills, cinema pews and old bentwood chairs all sit pretty in the space, fastidiously collected and vintage-everything for hire at Poppies.

363 Glen Osmond Road, Glen Osmond

+ Phone: (+61 8) 8379 5900
+ Website: http://poppiesflowers.com.au/
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Poppies-Flowers/
+ Instagram: @poppies_flowers
+ Email: info@poppiesflowers.com.au

The Rose and Radish

The Rose and Radish Garden Farm is a small, closed-loop farm in Piccadilly in the Adelaide Hills. For Rosie and Oscar, having a bunch of fresh flowers is about being able to take a little piece of nature and bringing it inside, staying close to gardens, forests and flowers no matter where you are.

Rosie says, “I see our arrangements as small, seasonal glimpses of the nature that surrounds us on our farm; cow parsley and plantain from the paddock; foxgloves and roses from the cutting garden; apple leaves and quinces from the orchard; and buckwheat and carrot flowers from the veggie patch. Using leaves and flowers from every little corner of our land (and wildflowers from the roadside!), we gather bunches that are evocative of our countryside, little pieces of our world.

One of our favourite things to do to is source seeds and plants which will flower at just the right time of year, with just the right colour and style to match exactly what an individual bride wants. It’s a long process, but so exciting and satisfying.”

On their farm, Rosie and Oscar grow flowers along with veggies, fruit, hops (and plenty of wild weeds). They arrange flowers at the farm and sell posies at nearby cafe The Piccadilly Kitchen and at markets, as well as using our seasonal blooms and branches to style weddings and events.

+ Website: http://theroseandradish.com.au
+ Facebook: http://facebook.com/theroseandradishgardenfarm
+ Instagram: @theroseandradish
+ Email: theroseandradish@gmail.com

Flowers by Alice

I’m sure it’s been said before – but walking into Flowers by Alice is a little like falling down the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland. It’s another world. There are window frames and doors to hidden worlds, ladders climbing high to the lofty ceiling and a spectacular display of grandiose blooms, foliage and terrariums. Alice’s blooms are flowers of distinction, with grand contemporary forms and rainforest orchids colliding with english garden blooms

“We pride ourselves on our weekly ritual of constantly renewing ourselves, with a spectacular, ever-changing panoply of flowers, flowering plants, succulents and foliage, and contemporary wares from all over, sourced from the best local, interstate and international growers; continually inspired by every aspect of a flower – a woody-corky stork, a pimpled lotus pod or the heady fragrance of a gardenia.”

Alice has over 10 years experience with all things floral, is an accomplished artist for all designs, simple and elaborate.

Highgate Village, 464 Fullarton Road, Myrtle Bank

+ Phone: (+61 8) 8338 2444
+ Website: http://www.flowersbyalice.com.au
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flowersbyalice.com.au
+ Email: alice@flowersbyalice.com.au

Ivy Shed

When I visited this quaint Adelaide Hills nook in the heart of leafy Stirling on a rainy autumn late afternoon, I felt like I had stepped into a storybook. Sitting at the back of Patch cafe, is Ivy Shed: Bespoke Flowers and eclectic gifts. And that it is; a rustic stone barn shed housing a vivid display of seasonal blooms, foliage and potted plants.

Owner Deborah honed her craft at Rococo in Darlinghurst, Sydney, before returning to the Adelaide Hills to be among family and friends, her favourite cool-climate flowers, and the village-like vibe of Stirling.Ivy Shed is steps back from ‘high end’ to a style that is relaxed.

Deborah says, “I’m constantly inspired and changing. I often use muted or nude colours, but I also love discovering new colours. I like to create clusters of flowers, then add interesting foliage such as herbs or autumn leaves to achieve a tonal palette that I might have in mind. I often look to nature and I aim to enhance what is already naturally occurring to ensure that what I’ve used in an arrangement compliments each other. Getting my hands dirty and getting back to the earth, doing jobs like raking or sweeping – it’s mundane loveliness that I relish.”

Ivy Shed is available for creating blooms for an event, bespoke arrangements and everyday gifts. Ivy Shed is also available for private hire throughout winter.

The Rear of 143 Mt Barker Rd, Stirling

+ Phone: (+61) 0417 219 512
+ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivyshed
+ Instagram: @ivyshed

So, what’s your favourite florist in Adelaide? Favourite flower?