The anniversary flower list is a florist's tradition, not an old Irish one. The
materials, paper through to diamond, go back a long way in these islands. The
matching flowers were tidied into a list much later, mostly in the twentieth
century and mostly by people who sold flowers.
That is not a reason to ignore it. It is a reason to use it as a prompt rather
than an instruction, because followed literally it will have you hunting for
bird of paradise in a Galway florist in February.
The list
| Year | Traditional flower |
|---|
| 1 | Carnation |
| 2 | Lily of the valley |
| 3 | Sunflower |
| 4 | Hydrangea |
| 5 | Daisy |
| 6 | Calla lily |
| 7 | Freesia |
| 8 | Lilac |
| 9 | Bird of paradise |
| 10 | Daffodil |
| 11 | Tulip |
| 12 | Peony |
| 13 | Chrysanthemum |
| 14 | Dahlia |
| 15 | Rose |
| 20 | Aster |
| 25 | Iris |
| 30 | Sweet pea |
| 40 | Gladiolus |
| 50 | Yellow rose and violet |
Which of these you can actually get
Half the list is seasonal, and an anniversary is a fixed date, so the two do not
always agree.
Available all year in Ireland: carnations, roses, chrysanthemums, calla
lilies, freesia, gerbera. If your year lands on one of these, you are fine
whatever the month.
Spring only, roughly February to May: daffodils, tulips, lily of the valley,
lilac, iris, peonies from late May. A tenth anniversary in October will not be
getting Irish daffodils, and imported ones in autumn are a poor version of the
thing.
Summer, June to September: sweet pea, sunflowers, dahlias, hydrangea,
gladiolus, asters. These are also the months when Irish-grown flowers are
genuinely available, and a locally grown bunch in July beats an imported bouquet
of the "correct" flower every time.
If your flower is out of season, take the colour instead of the species. A
fifth anniversary in December does not need daisies flown in; white and yellow
in whatever is good that week does the same job.
The milestone years
Silver, twenty-five. Iris for the flower, and white, grey-blue and cream for
the palette. Irises are in season here in late spring and are one of the few
flowers that read as formal without reading as funereal.
Pearl, thirty. Sweet pea, which is one of the best things about an Irish
summer and one of the shortest lived in a vase. Four or five days is normal. Buy
them for the scent and accept the timeline.
Ruby, forty. Deep red is the whole brief, and it does not have to be roses.
Red dahlias, ruby chrysanthemums or dark red ranunculus all hit it and cost less.
Gold, fifty. Yellow roses with violets in the traditional list. In practice a
yellow and cream bouquet with something small and purple in it is the version
that looks right in a room.
Roses, and the numbers
A red rose reads as romantic love, a yellow rose as friendship and warmth, a
white rose as something closer to reverence. Those associations are Victorian and
widely understood in Ireland, so they are worth knowing even if you do not
believe in them.
The stem count is mostly a shop convention. A dozen means a dozen. The only
counts that carry any real signal are one, which reads as deliberate and
confident, and the number matching the year, which is charming up to about twelve
and becomes a logistical problem after twenty-five.
There is more on grades, stem length and what you are paying for on our
roses page.
What actually works better than the list
Send the wedding flowers again. If anybody has a photograph of the day, a florist
can usually work out what was in the bouquet, and a recreated version at a
milestone anniversary lands harder than anything a list can suggest.
Failing that, send the flower they mention. Everyone has one they comment on:
the sweet pea in a neighbour's garden, the peonies in a shop window, freesia
because of the smell. That is the piece of information you already have and the
list does not.
Practicalities
An anniversary is a fixed date known months in advance, so there is no excuse for
an express charge. Order three or four days ahead, pick the delivery date, and
avoid the surcharges that turn a 55 euro bouquet into a 75 euro one.
If the two of you are marking it together, buying flowers on the day and putting
them in a vase yourselves is both cheaper and, for most couples, the nicer
version. Delivery earns its money when you are not in the same place.
