Luxury Artificial Flowers
Shop luxury artificial flowers from Mikolia: real touch roses, orchids, tulips, hydrangeas, peonies, magnolia branches and eucalyptus, sold as individual stems alongside ready-made bouquets and arrangements. For potted trees and greenery, see artificial plants, or browse the full artificial flowers and plants range.
Most artificial flowers are designed to be convincing from across a room and nowhere else. The ones worth buying survive a second glance, which is a harder standard and comes down to a handful of details: whether the petals have any give under a finger, whether the blooms sit at different heights on the stem, whether there are buds as well as open flowers. Every stem in this collection is chosen on that basis.
Why the stems are sold individually
Almost everything here is sold one stem at a time. A fixed bouquet imposes someone else's proportions on your room, and the moment you want it fuller, taller or in a different colour, you are buying the whole thing again. Buying stems separately means you decide: three for a quiet accent on a bedside table, a dozen packed tight for a dense posy, or a single branch carrying a vase on its own.
It also lets you build up over time. Start with one colour, add a second later, thread in a few stems of eucalyptus when the arrangement needs breaking up. Tulips are the one exception, sold as bunches of three because tulips look wrong alone and right in a group.
If you would rather not think about any of it, our ready-made bouquets and artificial flowers in vase arrive complete. The pink orchid arrangement in a white ceramic bowl and the taller white orchid arrangement at 95cm both need nothing but a surface to stand on.
Choosing by height
Height is where most arrangements go wrong, and it is worth deciding before colour. Short stems between 37cm and 51cm, including Kate roses, hydrangeas and peonies, are made for massing: a dozen in a squat vase gives the packed posy look that longer stems physically cannot. Mid-height stems from 68cm to 96cm, such as Juliet and garden roses, the 71cm real touch delphinium, camellia and magnolia branches, are for a dining table, console or sideboard. Anything from 100cm upwards, including our 113cm long stem roses, is a floor piece and belongs in a tall vessel where the length can actually be seen.
Every stem is wire cored, so a tall flower can be cut down with florist snips if you want it lower. Going the other way is not an option, which is why buying slightly too long is the safer mistake.
Flowers by type
Roses appear in four forms, from the 37cm Kate rose for tight posies through Juliet and garden roses at around 70cm, up to the 113cm sprays carrying four open blooms and a bud each, available in white, pink and deep red.
Orchids come as the 93cm nine-head Phalaenopsis stem, shorter 44cm stems in pink for lower displays, and as finished arrangements. The blooms are moulded in three dimensions rather than cut from flat fabric, which is what gives each flower a proper lip and throat.
Hydrangeas carry one full head of individually attached florets, slightly varied in tone so the head has depth. Peonies build a dense ruffled dome. The 100cm cherry blossom branch and clematis bring height and softness, and seeded and silver dollar eucalyptus are there for anyone who wants structure and green rather than colour.
Pairing flowers with the right vase
The vessel does half the work. A dense, rounded arrangement wants a wide mouth to spread into; a single sculptural branch wants a narrow neck to hold it at an angle. Getting this wrong is why an expensive arrangement can still look wrong.
Sculptural forms from our 3D printed vases suit white and cream flowers particularly well, since the ridged texture carries the interest and the flowers stay simple. Ginger jars are the traditional choice, with a shoulder that holds a full bouquet together rather than letting it splay. Ceramic and floral vases are the everyday option for a table, and handbag vases work as a small sculptural accent beside a larger display rather than as the display itself. For long stems, only a tall vessel from floor vases and planters will do them justice; our guide to styling planters and floor vases covers the proportions. The full range sits in vases.
Room by room
A living room takes the structural stems: magnolia, cherry blossom and long stem roses on a console, or filling the corner beside a sofa. Keep the coffee table arrangement low, and do not put two displays at the same height in one room.
In a dining room, the only rule that matters is that people can see over it. Hydrangeas, peonies and tulips sit at the right height; a 96cm magnolia branch does not, however good it looks.
A bedroom suits softer colours and smaller groups. A short posy on a bedside table does more than a large arrangement, which tends to dominate a room people mostly see lying down.
For offices, artificial flowers have an advantage that has nothing to do with looks: nothing wilts over a long weekend, nothing drops petals into a keyboard and nobody has to own the watering. A single orchid stem suits a desk without taking working space; larger displays suit a reception area. Our office decor styling guide covers placement in more detail.
Weddings, events and gifting
For wedding decorations, faux stems solve several problems at once. They can be arranged weeks ahead rather than on the morning, they survive a long day in a warm room, they cost the same whether the flower is in season or not, and they are kept afterwards rather than binned. Buying individually also makes it far easier to build twelve matching table centres than relying on what a florist can source that week.
The same qualities make them good wedding and housewarming gifts. A premium arrangement is something the recipient still has years later, and it asks nothing of them in return.
More at Mikolia
For potted trees and large indoor greenery, see artificial plants, or browse the whole artificial flowers and plants range. Shop by room for the living room, dining room and bedroom, or finish a scheme with wall art and accessories. Explore the full collection at Mikolia, with UK next day delivery.
