PULSE Newsletter Issue 12

This week, we’re embracing Autumn inspiration — from the spectacular seasonal blooms at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show to a campaign encouraging florists to rethink the humble carnation as premium Dianthus. We also look at how botanical prints are blooming across fashion and interiors, proving that our love of flowers extends far beyond the florist shop.

The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show returns to the stunning grounds of Newby Hall & Gardens in Ripon this Thursday until Saturday. For anyone in the north of England, it's the most significant floristry event of the month. Organised by the North of England Horticultural Society, the Autumn edition celebrates the year's growing achievements with flower arranging displays, bountiful produce, plant nurseries, and live advice stages amid over 5,000 Autumn blooms.

This is one of the most atmospheric events in the UK horticultural calendar and a brilliant showcase of the kind of seasonal, locally grown content that professional florists can take inspiration from. Expect Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Asters, and late-summer foliage at their peak.

For florists who can't make it in person, the show's social media will be full of display inspiration so definitely worth following over the weekend.

A consortium of eight leading Colombian Dianthus breeders has launched Dianthus Land, a major campaign to reshape how professional florists, and their customers, think about one of the world's most versatile flowers.

The strategy is simple but clever: stop calling them carnations. As The Florist Magazine reports, the moment you say "Carnation," many customers switch off as they conjure images of a cheap, old-fashioned, single-colour filler. Say "Dianthus" and suddenly you're talking about an exciting, varied, premium-adjacent bloom. Which, as anyone in the trade knows, it genuinely is.

The Dianthus Land campaign points out that the variety is already stocked daily by high-end boutiques like Neill Strain Floral Couture in Belgravia. The issue is simply that the flower suffers from a name and reputation problem at the consumer end. The campaign will showcase the extraordinary range of sizes, shapes, colours and varieties available, with promotions aimed at both florists and their end customers.

For florists, this is a genuine sales opportunity. If you're not already positioning Dianthus as a premium, named variety rather than a generic filler, now is the time to make that switch as your customers are more curious about provenance and variety names than they've ever been so lean into it.

Flower-inspired fashion is having a genuine moment on the UK high street and beyond which is worth knowing about because it gives florists a conversation-starter with customers who'd never usually ask about trends.

Designers including McQueen and Off-White showed watercolour botanicals and dark floral prints on ink-black backgrounds at 2026 shows. The high street has picked it up: the puff-sleeve floral mini has been named 2026's signature new trend dress. More broadly, botanical motifs from vintage-inspired scattered petals to bold jewel-toned maximalist prints are appearing across fashion, homeware and accessories. When customers walk in having just bought a botanical-print dress or cushion, they're already in a flowers-are-beautiful headspace.

18–20 September 2026 - Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, Newby Hall & Gardens, Ripon

27 September 2026 – National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs National Final — Floral Art

3 October 2026 – BFA Industry Awards Ceremony & Gala Dinner, Nottingham (FleurEx 2026)

October 2026 – FleurEx 2026 BFA's flagship event for retail florists and students

Harrogate Autumn Flower Show — Newby Hall (https://www.newbyhall.com/event/harrogate-autumn-flower-show-2026/)

Dianthus Land campaign — The Florist (https://theflorist.co.uk/news-1/dianthus-flower-of-the-year-2026)

The Florist magazine news (https://theflorist.co.uk/news-1)

Botanical fashion trend — UK Apparel-X (https://uk.apparel-x.com/blog/AX_TREND/botanicalmotif2026)