Pivoines d’anniversaire

Birthday peonies: what is on this page

Seven peony designs in a variety of pinks and whites, each cut in bud so the flowers open over several days after they arrive. Blissful Pink Peonies Bouquet is the simplest: pink peonies in a clear glass vase, from $74.99 in four sizes. Elegant Blush Peony Bouquet sets soft blush blooms in a vintage-style cut-glass vase, from $114.99, and Charm Peony Delight fills a petal-patterned vase with pastel pink peonies, from $84.99. Rustic Peony Arrangement packs blush peonies loosely into a wicker basket, the way they grow along a cottage fence, from $84.99. For a mixed look, Blushing Beauty Peony Bouquet pairs pink peonies with red roses, lisianthus and Peruvian lilies from $70, and Secret Garden Peony Bouquet adds anemones, ranunculus and scabiosa in pink, white and green, from $94.99, with or without the apothecary jar. Spring Blossom Peony Bouquet is the showpiece: pink and white garden peonies, ten stems wrapped for $120 or twenty stems in an apothecary jar for $240. Most designs come in two to four sizes, and the price shown is the list price for the size you choose, with delivery added at checkout. Read the reviews from our customers on each product page before you choose.

Pink and white peonies: the meaning behind the vibrant colors

Peonies stand for good fortune, a happy marriage, honor and romance, which is why they are the traditional twelfth anniversary flower and a favorite for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, showers and the other celebrations of late spring. Pink peonies carry the softest message, white peonies are elegance itself and a little formal, with coral and deep red varieties bringing the brightest color of early summer into a room. A single open peony can measure five or six inches across, so even a small vase arrangement has presence at a birthday party, and the fragrance is the final touch: once the buds open, a vase of peony flowers scents a whole room, which is the quality people remember. Peonies are not a birth month flower, but they are the state flower of Indiana and a flower people love and rarely receive. That is the whole case for sending them.

Peony season and the delivery date

Cut peonies are available for a few weeks each year, usually from May into June, with the exact window shifting with the weather and the growing region. Our designers specialize in seasonal flowers and work with growers who time the harvest to that window rather than to a calendar, so the flowers on this page are sold out for most of the year, including October, and return when the first stems are picked. In season, order by 2:00 PM Monday to Friday or 12:45 PM on Saturday, in the recipient's local time, and a florist near them designs the arrangement from our recipe and hand-delivers it that day, usually by 8 PM. For a birthday later in the season, choose the delivery date at checkout and add your card message there too. If a peony variety runs short on the day, the florist substitutes blooms of equal or greater value and keeps the color and shape of the design. We do not ship peonies in a box; a florist delivers them in water. See how delivery works for deliveries to homes, offices and schools across the United States, and if you need support with an order, email or call us and a real person at James Cress Florist answers.

Proper care, so the blooms last the week

Peonies arrive at the tight bud stage, which is how they travel best, and a little proper care turns them into full blooms within two or three days. Peony care is easy. Trim half an inch from each stem at an angle, use the flower food, and keep the vase full of fresh water, which is essential because peonies drink a lot while they open. Place them in bright, indirect light, away from heaters and the fruit bowl, and change the water every two days. A bud that feels like a firm marshmallow will open; a rock-hard bud may need a warm room and a day of patience. Once open, a vase of peonies stays picture-ready for the better part of a week, and the petals drop all at once at the end rather than browning slowly, so the flowers keep their beauty to the last day.

Out of season? Flowers with the same feel

When the peony tiles show sold out, the quality flowers closest in spirit are garden roses and lisianthus, with hydrangeas for the same full, ruffled shape, for a party or a quiet birthday at home. Our birthday roses include blush and pink garden varieties, birthday hydrangeas bring the same soft volume to a vase, and birthday flowers for her gathers the flowers our customers send most. Ranunculus, which shares the Secret Garden bouquet with peonies, has a spring season of its own. If the birthday person loves peonies above all, send a card that promises a bouquet in June and follow through when the season opens; people remember that one. For every other peony occasion, from a wedding to a thank you, our peony bouquets page is one click away. James Cress Florist has been a family florist since 1903, our customers rate us 4.9 out of 5 stars, and peonies have been the shortest, happiest season in our coolers for all of it.