Whilst it isn’t the season for watching the flowers bloom outside in the flowerbeds, as the days get darker and the nights get a little colder, it is often to flowers that people turn in order to brighten up a kitchen or add a sense of freshness to an otherwise gloomy space. The delicately cut and selected bouquet is a treat which is not just a last-ditch gift bought for a forgotten occasion: it could, and should, be a key tool in our home improvement kit.

As well as the obvious aesthetic benefits of having a colourful bouquet of flowers in a room, there are advantages for all sorts of plants and creations. A living, non-cut plant, if well-fed and watered, will aerate the room, providing more oxygen and also adding a subtle centre and focus. This need not be the ironically chosen Japanese peace lily which Simon Pegg’s character in the film Hot Fuzz so demurely champions: there are many scents, colours the leaves which can be found growing native in Britain.

Further, choosing a bouquet of fresh flowers needn’t mean that they have been sourced from the other side of the world. The ubiquitous, though enduringly popular rose, a flower which suits its home in Britain very comfortably, is a choice of bloom which is both sustainable and local – thereby appeasing any ethical reservations you may or may not have about the ‘air-miles’ of your plants and flowers.

Indeed, Interflora is now teaming up with David Austin, an international company specialising in the breeding of English roses (of the garden and hand-cut bouquet options), which has been awarded for its excellence at various RHS shows, such as Hampton Court Flower Show.

Alongside the classic red, red rose so notoriously British, and made so famous throughout the modern history of the island by the love poetry of writers from Sir Philip Sidney to William Blake, you can choose a variety of colours and combinations which provide a modern twist on this local classic. Whether you prefer a single red rose gift set or a hand-tied bunch of twelve bouncing yellow roses, you can find a multitude of roses on the Interflora website.