May is the month the flower calendar turns. Spring's early bulbs are finishing, the summer flowers are not quite here, and for a few short weeks the peonies arrive. Here is what is actually blooming in May, what changes in the Las Vegas desert, and what is worth sending while it lasts.
The May flowers worth knowing
Peonies are the headline. Their season is measured in weeks, not months, and May is the heart of it. If someone you love has a May birthday or anniversary, peonies are the flower that says you knew.
Roses come into their first big flush in May. Garden roses and spray roses both peak now, before summer heat shortens their vase life. Our rose arrangements lean on that timing.
Gardenias bloom in May and carry the strongest scent of any flower on this list. A little goes a long way in a warm room, which is exactly why people remember them.
Delphinium gives May its height and its blue, a color few other flowers do honestly. Lilac and poppies round out the month in cooler climates; in Las Vegas they are short-lived treats rather than staples, and a good florist will tell you so before selling them to you.
Tulips are finishing by May. Late tulips exist, but the desert treats them roughly, and petunias belong to the garden bed, not the vase. Knowing what not to buy in May is half of buying well.
What the desert changes
Las Vegas in May is already summer by most of the country's standards, with afternoons in the 90s. Flowers cut for a May garden party in Ohio live a different life here. Heat speeds up everything a cut flower does, including aging, so May arrangements in the valley live or die on the basics: fresh stems, clean water, and a cool room away from windows and vents. Our Las Vegas flower care guide covers the desert rules in full, from the parked-car problem to why our hard tap water needs the flower-food packet.
May in Las Vegas: Mother's Day weekend
The second Sunday of May is the biggest flower day of the year, and in Las Vegas it lands on a full event weekend. The Great American Foodie Fest's spring edition at Desert Breeze Park has run on Mother's Day weekend, and the San Gennaro producers' spring fair at the Rio ran through Mother's Day with closing fireworks. Families here build the whole weekend at once: brunch, a festival, and flowers that arrive before the day gets away from everyone. If you are ordering for Mother's Day, order before the weekend does. Our Mother's Day flowers are designed by our own designers and hand-delivered by our own drivers, and you can order by noon for same-day delivery while the day's routes still have room.
What to send in May
Send the season. A May arrangement built on peonies and roses looks like May and nothing else, which is the whole point of seasonal flowers. For anniversaries, May's roses and gardenias carry the month with them; our anniversary flowers include both. For Mother's Day, the honest advice is simple: pick the arrangement, write the card like you mean it, and let the timing do the rest. Every arrangement we deliver carries our Freshness Guarantee: if your flowers do not hold up the way they should, tell us within 48 hours and we will replace them.
Not sure what is best this week? The best sellers page is where our designers' current favorites live, and it changes with the season, just like this list.
