The stem is not the number that matters
Every listing here gives a height, and on its own that height tells you almost nothing. What decides whether something looks right is the relationship between the stem, the vase you put it in and the space above it. Three measurements of your own and you will never have to guess at one of my numbers again.
How I measure
The height on every product page is the whole stem, tip to cut end. Not the bloom, not the part that shows above a rim — the entire length of the thing that arrives in the box. Bouquets and posies are measured the same way, from the top of the tallest bloom to the bottom of the stems.
Where a piece includes its own container, the height already includes it. That number is the finished height on your table, so there is no arithmetic to do — skip to the placements further down.
Everything is given in centimetres and inches. On pieces that come in more than one size, tap the option you want and the measurements for that one appear underneath it.
The proportion that works
Florists have used the same ratio for a century because it holds: the stem should be roughly one and a half to two times the height of the vase. Since a stem generally reaches the bottom of the vase, its total length is also the finished height on your table, which makes the sum easy.
A 20cm vase wants stems of about 30–40cm. A 12cm bud vase wants 18–24cm. A 40cm floor vase wants 60–80cm. Below that ratio the arrangement looks swallowed; far above it, the weight sits too high and the whole thing tips towards the light within a week.
Width follows the same logic more loosely. A loose arrangement spreads about as wide as it stands tall, so leave that much clear on either side of wherever it is going.
Three measurements to take
Your vase, base to rim
Stand it on the table and measure straight up to the lip. Multiply by 1.5 and by 2 — that pair of numbers is the stem length you are shopping for.
The opening, across the inside
This decides how much you can fit, not how tall it should be. A narrow neck holds three or four stems upright on its own; a wide bowl needs eight or more, or they fall to the sides.
The gap above the surface
Measure from the surface to whatever is above it — a shelf, a mirror, a wall cabinet, the underside of a picture. Nothing should fill more than about two thirds of that gap.
Write the three numbers down. Every listing on this site can then be answered with arithmetic instead of hope.
Finished heights by place
Total height from the surface, vase included. Useful as a sanity check once you have done the sum.
Dining table
Under 35cm, so people can see each other across it. This is the one people get wrong most often.
Coffee table
30–45cm. Seen from above as much as from the side, so width matters more here than height.
Console or hallway
50–75cm. Seen standing and usually against a wall, so it can be taller and one-sided.
Mantelpiece
40–60cm, and keep it off-centre. A symmetrical arrangement dead in the middle reads as a display.
Open shelving
No more than two thirds of the gap between shelves, or it looks jammed in.
Floor
80–120cm total. Anything shorter disappears next to furniture.
Bedside or desk
25–40cm. Small enough not to compete for the surface you actually use.
Bathroom
25–35cm. Keep it out of the shower spray — these are not made to sit wet.
When you are between two sizes
Take the longer one. Stems here have a wire core and cut cleanly with floristry cutters, so length can come off in a minute. It cannot go back on.
Cut a little at a time, standing the stem in the vase between cuts rather than measuring in your hand. And cut at an angle if the stem will show through glass — a flat cut sitting on the bottom of a clear vase is one of the few things that gives an arrangement away. The rest of what to look at is set out separately.
If a piece turns out to be wrong for the space anyway, that is what the returns page is for, and under £50 nothing has to be posted back.