The best florists in Melbourne

This boutique floral studio is available to visit by appointment only, but you can purchase blooms via the website and have them delivered straight to your doorstep. There's an overarching Sailor Moon theme, and you can choose from selected bouquets or order a custom arrangement via email.

Art Stems pride themselves on quality arrangements with a variety of flowers. In an attempt to be eco-friendly, they have done away with boxes and present their bouquets in tins, ceramic vases, and jugs that they encourage their customers to re-use.

Proprietor Michael Pavlou has carved himself a niche by specialising in Australian natives. “They’re really underrated,” he says. “There are so many interesting native flowers which people have never seen before. I just want to show them to people.”

Situated on High Street, Armadale, Bud Flowers offers unique, fresh flower arrangements and giftware. It's owned and operated by the talented Nicole Bishops Whiteman who scours the markets for the best flowers available.

Flowers Vasette features a vast range of floral arrangements that deviate from your traditional bunch of roses. Owned by Cherrie Miriklis, this beautiful addition to Brunswick Street has been servicing the Melbourne metropolitan area since 1989.

The staff here are expert at customising bunches of blooms for whomever you have in mind, to create something truly appropriate. If you're looking for yourself, the evolving displays are designed to inspire interior decorating ideas, using found objects and furniture in some designs.

After something extra, extra special? Situated in upmarket Prahran, Kate Hill Flowers is the baby of florist, floral designer and interior designer Kate Hill, whose vision is evident in each of her bouquets and arrangements. In addition to designing for events and weddings, she has worked with high-profile clients and caterers.

Nestled on a side street in Richmond, and sharing premises with a vegan café and a record store, Lilac and the Cat specialise in “ethical avant garde” floristry. They make big, loose and natural-looking bouquets with an unstinting dedication to sustainability.

Pollon Flowers is an eclectic, tiny store packed with a vast range of flowers. It acts as a studio space for owner and flower artisan Nicholas Minton-Connell, nestled within the arches at the back of St Paul's Cathedral.

If you've seen everything there is to see at the Royal Botanic Gardens, it might be time to stop and smell the flowers at these unsung gardens around Melbourne.