Flowers and Travel: How to Take a Bouquet on a Trip and Keep It Fresh

Cut flowers travel well for a few hours if their stems stay moist, they are kept cool and they are protected from crushing. Wrap the stem ends in wet paper or an aqua pack, carry the bouquet upright in your hands or a rigid box, and choose sturdy varieties such as chrysanthemums, carnations, eustoma or firm roses. For trips longer than half a day, or across a border, it is usually better to have flowers delivered at the destination.

Here is how a florist would prepare a bouquet for a journey by plane, train or car, which flowers survive the trip and which do not, what to know about carrying plants between countries, and how to sort out flowers for someone in Russia when you are not going to be there in person.

Preparing a bouquet for the road

Good travel starts before you leave the house. The day before, give the flowers a long drink: recut the stems at an angle and leave them in deep, cool water overnight. Well-hydrated flowers have a reserve that carries them through several hours out of water. Remove leaves from the lower part of the stems, since they rot quickly in wet wrapping and add weight.

Just before leaving, wrap the stem ends in a few sheets of wet paper towel, put them in a small plastic bag and tie it around the stems with a rubber band. This is a homemade aqua pack, and it keeps the cut ends from drying out and sealing over. Then wrap the whole bouquet in kraft paper or cellophane with the top left slightly open, so the flowers are shielded from wind and touch but can still breathe.

For anything fragile, use a box. A shoebox or wine box with a hole cut in the lid, or a tall cardboard tube, keeps the heads from being squashed. Pack tissue paper loosely between the heads; tight packing bruises petals just as much as a fall does.

Flowers that travel well, and those that do not

The best travellers have firm stems, thick petals and a slow opening speed. Spray and single-head chrysanthemums, carnations, alstroemeria, eustoma, statice, freesia in bud, gypsophila, eucalyptus and other greenery, and roses bought in a half-open bud all cope with a day of travel and open nicely once they are in water. Orchid sprays sold in tubes are also surprisingly robust.

Poor travellers are the flowers that drink a lot or bruise easily: hydrangea, open peonies, sweet peas, gerberas, anemones, ranunculus in full bloom and lily of the valley. Lilies travel acceptably if you buy them in closed bud, but their pollen stains bags and clothes, so remove the anthers before packing.

Whatever you choose, buy flowers in bud rather than at their peak. A bouquet that is fully open on the day you leave will be past its best by the time you arrive, while a bouquet in tight bud uses the journey to begin opening.

Bouquets we can deliver

Bouquet of 1 yellow sunflowers

$12

Bouquet of 3 red gerberas

$20

Bouquet of 3 white matthiola

$22

Bouquet of 3 pink matthiola

$22

By plane, train or car: what changes

On a plane, carry flowers in the cabin rather than in checked luggage, where they will be crushed and may be exposed to cold in the hold. A wrapped bouquet usually counts as a personal item, but airlines set their own rules, so check before you fly. The wet paper around the stems is generally fine at security, while a vase or bottle of water is not. Cabin air is very dry, so keep the bouquet wrapped for the whole flight and do not put it in the overhead locker under heavy bags; hold it or place it on top.

On a train you have more freedom. Keep the bouquet in a cool spot away from the heating panel under the window, and if the trip is long, ask the attendant for a little water or bring a plastic bottle to refresh the wet paper every few hours. Overnight, stand the flowers upright in the bottle with the top cut off.

By car, the main enemies are sun and heater air. The footwell behind the passenger seat is the most stable and shaded place; avoid the boot and the dashboard. We cover this in detail in our guide on how to travel with flowers by car and keep them fresh.

Taking flowers across a border

Flowers are plant material, and many countries restrict what plants and plant products travellers can bring in, to keep out pests and diseases. Some allow cut flowers for personal use, some require a phytosanitary certificate, and some ban certain species outright. Rules differ by country and change from time to time, so check the official customs or agriculture authority of the country you are entering before you pack a bouquet.

In practice, flowers that are carried across a border often end up confiscated at the airport or arrive too tired to give anyway. If the bouquet is a gift for someone at your destination, ordering it there is usually less effort and gives the recipient fresher flowers. Bulbs, seeds and potted plants are subject to even stricter rules than cut stems.

If you are travelling to Russia, or have someone there you want to surprise while you are away, this is exactly the situation where delivery solves the problem.

When you are away: sending flowers instead of carrying them

We deliver flowers across Russia, so you can arrange a bouquet from wherever you are. City delivery costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs, the operator confirms the price when confirming the order. In large cities express delivery takes 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed, or you can pick an exact time (plus or minus 30 minutes), a window of 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 or 18-21, or pre-order 1-30 days ahead. That last option is handy when you know your travel dates and want flowers to meet someone at home on a specific day.

Delivery is anonymous by default and a card with your text is free, so you can sign it however you like. The courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival; if nobody is there, we agree a second delivery the same day or, with your consent, leave the flowers with a neighbour or concierge. You pay online by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay.

Choose a bouquet in the catalogue, check the details on the delivery and payment page, and if you want help with the choice, the timing or the card text, or a photo of the bouquet before it goes out, write to our manager on WhatsApp.

Reviving flowers after the journey

As soon as you arrive, unwrap the bouquet and recut every stem by 2-3 cm with a sharp knife, under running water if possible. Put it in a clean vase of cool water and leave it somewhere shaded for a couple of hours before putting it on display. Most flowers recover within that time.

Roses with drooping heads respond well to being rewrapped tightly in paper and stood in deep water for two hours. Hydrangeas can be fully submerged for half an hour. Change the water every day or two and trim the stems each time, and a bouquet that has been on a long trip can still last a week or more.