Please do yourself a favour and buy some fresh flowers. Because let’s face it– the Scottish, grey weather these days doesn’t exactly scream “Spring,” as many of us may have hoped. While we wait for the distant fields to brim with fluorescent yellow rapeseed and the skeletons of trees in town to blossom with foliage, keeping fresh flowers in your indoor spaces is the perfect way to welcome the spring season.
Aside from the obvious benefits of adding colour and greenery to your home, fresh flowers and plants are natural air purifiers that constantly generate fresh oxygen (a famous NASA experiment from 1989 found that indoor plants can even scrub the air of cancer-causing compounds). There are also psychological studies which demonstrate the ability of fresh flowers and plants to improve mental health and boost happiness and pro-social behaviour.
Unfortunately, it can be tricky to find places in St Andrews that sell a variety of flowers, let alone ones of a good quality and price. Nevertheless, here are my local recommendations:
Chincherinchee
Although slightly more expensive than others, the florist on South Street never fails to stock a unique variety of seasonal flowers and plants. They create beautiful pre-made or custom-made bouquets styled for different occasions and holidays, and they also deliver to local postcodes.
Supermarkets
Don’t sleep on the supermarket flower options in town! Tesco usually has a few affordable bouquets that are relatively long-lasting, but Aldi wins in terms of value for price. Their flowers last at least a week and usually cost just a pound or two. They also have great options for dried flowers that will last much longer, for example Baby’s-breath and eucalyptus.
Balgove Larder
The flower shed at Balgove sells an abundant collection of plants from their farm. These flowers are usually bigger and bulkier and might not work as well for a desk pick-me-up vase or a small kitchen table arrangement, but they make for great gifts if you’re looking for a more substantial bouquet.
Caulders Garden Centre Cupar
If you’re willing to trek a bit further, the Garden Centre in Cupar has hundreds of options. Most of their plants and flowers aren’t pre-planted, as they’re intended for home gardens, but they also have plenty of other options if you aren’t looking to pot your plants yourself.
The ground!
I know this is an obvious one, but in a few weeks’ time the paths and pavements in town will be littered with thistles and daisies, creating the perfect opportunity to make your own DIY bouquet (as long as you’re picking wild flowers and weeds). The Fife Coastal Path is a great place to look as it always has some particularly colourful flowers in the spring to brighten up your indoor spaces.
So the next time you plan to buy a coffee out, put those few pounds towards a bouquet of fresh flowers instead, and thank me later!