The Best Florists in Toronto
Flowers weren't always the mild-mannered simile for beauty they are today. Take dahlias: harmless filler flower now, formerly the Aztec flower of war, the bloom of choice to accompany human sacrifices to the Serpent Woman.
(I feel like I just broke some unspoken rule about keeping the phrase "human sacrifices" out of feel-good flower posts. Oh well.)
Then there's tulips. Today they crowd the entrance to every convenience store, yet during Holland's Tulpenwoede ("tulip fury") a single bulb was once sold in exchange for several loads of wheat, oxen, a mess of pigs, a dozen sheep, booze, butter, 1000 lbs of cheese, a bed, a suit of clothes and a silver beaker (see Torontonian Andrew Smith's excellent "Strangers in the Garden".)
Proust said he only had to think of lilacs to smell their scent. For those of us with less vivid sense memory, here is a short list of some of Toronto's best florists (which almost never trade in oxen).
We've tried here to assemble a decent cross-section of options. Across the city, at different price points, and for different needs. You've got your wedding flowers, your chichi flowers (Fiori), your hemp wearing flowers (Eco Flora), and your cheap and cheerfuls (Kay and Young's).
But still, this is not The One List For All Time Ever. If you don't see your favourite florist on here, tell us about them. That's why god made comment systems.
Florists at top, from left to right are: Kay and Young's, Poppies (photo courtesy Patrick Smith) and Suzanne Gardner Flowers.
Poppies
Poppies quickly brightened up the corner of Queen and Dovercourt when it opened with its crispy sign and plastic flower building decor. The sign is rock and roll while the inside is simultaneously vibrant and serene. A rotating variety of indoor and outdoor garden knick knackery, plus stylish potted arrangements to go, or choose an assortment of fresh flowers from the back. More...
Pink Twig
Pink Twig is fairly new to Little Italy. Open less than two years but consistently rated one of Toronto's best flower shops. The cheery playfulness of Tanya List and Amy Saleh's store fits right in on one of Toronto's most walkable streets. With fun and sexy floral style. More...
Eco Flora
Scott Graham is the one-man operation of Eco Flora. This fair trade and organic florist is located at 1982 Islington, but delivers throughout the GTA, at incredibly reasonable prices. The arrangements are simple but not minimal, lush with excellent texture and creative colour. The cellophane is compostable and all containers are fairly traded (and usually reusable). More...
Jaidens Petals
Unlike TV shows, great stores tend to generate spin offs as good as their origins. That's the case with Jaidens Petals, which grew out of their Ossington neighbour Cindiloowho. Lovely arrangements that look like you picked them while out on a walk (if you happened to walk past implausibly pretty selections of ranunculus and peonies). More...
Suzanne Gardner Flowers
Mark Thuet is right, Liberty Village is a sexy address, if still slightly confusing to navigate (find the Brazen Head Irish pub, and then go behind it). Suzanne Gardner's cool and quiet flower studio's arrangements are simple and classic. As they put it "Flowers are like music. There are only so many notes but infinite ways to combine them to come up with something different." More...
Wild Thyme
Margaret Corrigan's Wild Thyme operates out of a studio that is crisp white on the inside and dark and formal on the outside. Margaret worked in some of London's posher high street florists, and her shop and its contents in Leslieville looks like they've been transplanted from there, with a pared down modern English character. More...
Fresh Floral Creations
Fresh Floral Creations under owner Bruno Duarte now has two locations. One within Mary Tripi in Yorkville, and one on its own on the Danforth between Broadview and Chester. If you're looking to make your home or office more life-affirming and colourful, sign up for Orchids Absolute, where Fresh provides and regularly replaces your orchid to ensure it is always flowering. More...
Foglie
Foglie is Italian for leaves, and the awning carries on the hallowed Toronto tradition of naming a place (Xacutti), and then adding the phonetic pronunciation so you can say where you're going. The chalkboard sign outside currently muses that "a life without love is like a year without summer". Toronto really earned our summer this year, I say we reward ourselves with some flowers. More...
Posies
Posies, aka florist-to-the-stars, continues poshifying Mirvish Village. Posies' website name drops their celebrity clientele (though I won't). Arrangements are straightforwardly elegant, and traditionally romantic. Floral Designer & Event Architect Karina Lemke is featured on Life Network's Rich Bride Poor Bride, so her portfolio is wedding-heavy, though Posies handles all occasions. More...
Kay and Young's
This list tends towards modern and minimalist florists, featuring stores with creative directors and floral designers. But a Toronto florist list without a nod to the corner of Avenue and Davenport isn't complete. Kay and Young's doesn't have Eco Flora's fair and green qualifications, but what it does have is abundance. Year-round, every colour of rose you can conceive of spilling out onto the sidewalk. More...
Elizabeth Munro Designs
Elizabeth Munro's theory is that us winter-ridden Canadians need all the visual stimulus we can get. We do spend an awful lot of time looking staring at white (and grey), so we're probably that much more appreciative of colour. Elizabeth is on to something here. Visit her boutique in the Distillery District. More...
Quince Flowers
Quinces are one of the food plants of baby flutterbys, and they know from pretty. Quince's stores are pretty as their flowering namesake -- with an eye-catching corner location in Leslieville, and another up at Yonge and Craighurst (north of Eglinton). Minimal but high-impact style. More...
Demarco-Perpich
Demarco-Perpich has been bringing chic to Toronto since 1979. They've just moved from their Rosedale location down to the join the cult of West Queen West/Ossington. The entrance is a work in progress, but flowers are kept inside anyways. Specializing in bright and beautiful spilling out of more traditional patina'd containers. More...
Fiori
An upscale florist on St Clair West, the staff are welcoming, though the "do not handle" sign beside the hand-dipped metallic pearl finish candlesticks feels like it's a blanket statement for the whole of the store. Head in past the selection of Seda France Bon Chic candles, cast fruit and plush pillows, to order your rich arrangements. More...
Burst
Dayle Crawford's Burst Flowers and Jewelry does double-duty, but doesn't neglect either. Dayle buys flowers which are grown responsibly, and traded fairly. A small space maximized with a great selection of planters and pots up high and down low, jewelry at eye level, cut flowers at the back. Burst started the move down Walnut Avenue, followed by neighbouring Tealish, and hopefully the trend will continue. More...
Comments (32)
Clearly this list is incomplete; You've missed Lib & Ido's Rose Emporium on Dupont - the best place to find roses in the city, in my opinion.
Well this article would have helped out a few months ago when i was looking for flowers for my wedding
It's too bad you miss Martin's, the Flower People (http://martinflowers.com). They've been at the same location in the Junction (and owned by the same family) since 1897... a real Toronto classic!
They've got great stuff. I've ordered for years, and never been disappointed. Great service, everything's fully guaranteed to your satisfaction.
Yet again...your lists fail to mention practically anything north of Bloor...is there a plague I should be aware of up there...I guess I'm not really Torontonian...oh poo...
Sarah -- actually, 1/3 of this list are located north of Bloor (Foglie, Fiori, Quince, Kay and Youngs, + Eco Flora). But feel free to suggest your favourites.
there's a good store on Broadview, just south of Danforth, at 689 Broadview Ave, specifically - excellent arrangements
I have been going to Italo Paris for years to get my flowers. They are always up for doing some custom and special.. great designers. Highly recommended... and family owned.. www.italflorist.com
Thanks for this over view. I'm in the UK and wanted to send theis beautiful girl some beautiful flowers. When you google search you only find the horrible mass-florists. It's great to be able to contact a boutique florist and get something that contemporary and know it's local. I went with Eco Flora. Scott is even going to email me a photograph before he sends it. Top man...
martyn
I called several of the florist listed on this page. They may be very artsy and all that however they are very expensive and I can't afford the prices they charge for the few flowers they give. I found the Best Florist in Toronto they are called Blooms N Gifts. The Prices are really good, you can get great flowers and artistic also from only 29.99 They are much better prices than any of the florist listed above. The web site is www.bloomsgifts.com with Free Delivery
I called several of the florists listed on this page. They may be very artsy and all that however they are very expensive and I can't afford the prices they charge for the few flowers they give. I found the Best Florist in Toronto they are called Blooms N Gifts. The Prices are really good, you can get great flowers and artistically Designed from only 29.99 They are much better prices than any of the florist listed above. The web site is www.bloomsngifts.com with Free Delivery Same Day.
You have some great florists on your list but have completely missed a huge portion of the city. Best kept secret Boeket floral boutique in Laksehore village. Amazing creative designs at very resonable prices.
How could you leave out Linden Grove on King East? Their designs are one of a kind, and we always get comments about their work whenever we send flowers to people.
@Cathy
Wow, you so obviously work at that flower store you are blatantly promote.
Your website sucks.
there are a few flower shops all in a row at Avenue Rd & Davenport that sell the most beautiful flowers and houseplants and when you go inside it smells wonderful ... sorry don't know the name but looks like the owners are asian
Just wanted to let you know about a new find, on Yonge St. just north of Summerhill Subway. They have a cool name which is what got me drawn into the store. Great flowers and some really eye catching displays. Anyway the prices fair considering what they have.
Oh yeah the name is the Chocolate Tulip and it's near the Rosedale vet.
Not sure how this list was compiled but Aprile Florists in North York is one of the BEST. If you order an arrangement you will get more than you anticipate. Friendly service, client oriented and most of all you will get flowers out of this world.
Dayle Crawford at Burst flowers and jewelry did all my wedding flowers. They were better than he promised. He did my girlfriends wedding flowers too - they were gorgeous! Of all the florists in the Queen W area he's the only one that really listened to what I wanted. Thank you Dayle!
How can you miss Bernard Thibault on 689 Broadview? Bernard is very creative andand his price is very reasonable.
Did you ever been at King West Flowers on King and Bathurst?They have all the flowers in a store not in cooler its fun u can pick your own.........
Hello, I just thought I would drop a line and say this site is a wonderful idea. It is fantastic to be able to do a quick search of worthy florists. I wanted to send flowers to a couple I met abroad. This was a quick help. Went with the florist at the Chocolate Tulip which were close by to the couple. Thank you they were very appreciative of the arrangement and truffles.
At Harbourfront, near-impossible to beat Sobey's at Queens Quay Terminal. Woman who manages floral puts together stunning bouquets and vase arrangements. Flowers always super-fresh. Guess her training in Europe accounts for her talent for colour combos and packaging. Never disappointed in 2 years of weekly purchases.
Jackie-O in little Italy is definitely worth checking out too. Surprised its not on the list. The guys there are great.
We used Helen at The Chocolate Tulip for our small reception. They did beautiful work, especially considering we had no idea what we wanted, lol. We must have changed our minds a million times. I am sure we drove her nuts cause I know we drove our family crazy.
In the end it was exactly what we wanted and our guest loved the designs. Thanks so much for making the day so beautiful for us.
Not a fan of Wilbebloomin in Kensington (thankfully not listed, just an fyi). I got wilty flowers AND then got insulted. A sad ending to getting flowers.
I'm a huge fan of King West Flowers - gorgeous arrangements and they consistently last at least 2 weeks. Plus ... they're nice.
Another notable missing from the list is East of Eliza.
Practically a Toronto institution, it's been at a few locations in or near the beaches over the last 20 odd years.
Plus the owner's hilarious and really knows her stuff
Another notable is Peter and Paul's on the Danforth. They always have lovely flowers outside of their shop.
I was looking to send flowers and found a place on line called bloomsnroses. They had advertised that they had 'free shipping' and after they told me the price of my order, I was a little shocked and called them back. In order to get free shipping I would have had to order from their website and if I wanted to cancel I would have to pay $29.95 and send them a fax stating that I would pay that amount. In other words I was really taken advantage of. I know you are looking for great places but this is indeed the WORST place.
Had the good fortune to use a variety of florist across the GTA, and by far one of the best is ital Florist. I know they dont appear on this Top List list, however they do remarkable and spectacular work. Their dedsigners are very skilled and will add signature signature floral elements to cosutom orders. Service is very important to me and they've met and/or exceed my expectations at all times.. This shope is highly recommended.
If you don't feel like going out, you can order flowers online from 416-florist.
Thanks for the great post.
Ordered from Canadiana Flowers (http://torontoflorist.com) have a great and easy web site to navigate through, prices are fair, you get what you pay for, friendly staff to talk to on the phone, as I wanted something 'special' to send, will go back and order again, good value for money
Flower Plus at Bayview and Eg is one of the nicest flower shops I have ever seen. Here's one way to test a flower shop: Walk into the center of the showroom, close your eyes, spin around and point. Open your eyes and see if what you are pointing at inspires you. Try this at Flower Plus, and no matter what direction you turn, you'll see something that's beautiful if not inspiring.
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