This is a sponsored post with Shida preserved flowers. All photos, words and opinions are my own.

I love having flowers in my home, but I hate the environmental impact. When you buy fresh flowers from a supermarket or one of the larger florists, you’re ranking up your carbon footprint. Many flower farms use a huge amount of water and tons of nasty pesticides, not to mention flying the produce halfway across the world in some cases. Did you know that around 80% of roses come from Africa or South America? There’s also the wastage associated with throwing out wilted flowers every week. When you read more about the flower industry, those weekly bouquets of fresh blooms start to smell a little less sweet.

Of course, there are green flower farms, florists who only use locally grown flowers and the option of heading out with a pair of secateurs and picking your own wild flowers. And then there’s Shida. An online florist specialising in preserved flowers, Shida was born from one simple fact: flowers make us happy. With that in mind, they developed a sustainable alternative to importing cut flowers, harvesting in full bloom and preserving naturally to create bouquets that last up to a year without wilting. No more waste!

How do they do it? The flowers undergo a special treatment where their sap is replaced with 100% plant-based glycerine and dyes, maintaining the cell structure of the plants, leaving them feeling soft and tactile and retaining their natural beauty. Whether you’re looking for a table centrepiece or a way to brighten up a corner of your home, these bouquets are a great way to add colour and texture without worrying about constantly replacing them. It’s also the perfect way to have your favourite flowers in your home all year round, irrelevant of the seasons.

Something else that I loved about my bouquet was that there was no arranging necessary. I quite like having a faff with flowers, but these arrived when I was on my way out of the house and it was really convenient to be able to just take them out of their box and pop them straight into the vase that I had bought for them. The packaging they arrive in was 100% recyclable (another sustainable plus point) and they were simply wrapped in paper and tied with a ribbon - no plastic!

I’ve had a Shida bouquet in my home for a couple of weeks now. I’ve played around with it a lot, as I usually do with new additions to my home, trying it out in different places until I settled on its final spot. I opted for the Roma bouquet, a mix of dried flowers, seed pods and preserved eucalyptus leaves, boasting bright bursts of ochre and rust. The first spot I placed it was on the half-wall that divides our kitchen-diner. I loved it in this location, adding a splash of colour to our white kitchen, but I’m a little too clumsy to place anything fragile somewhere there’s a risk I’ll knock it off. The bouquet then lived in my bedroom for a week or so, spending time on my bedside table and on a chest of drawers. I loved how the colours complemented my blush pink and terracotta sheets and print and thought this was its final home. Until the weekend - when I brought it downstairs for a dinner party and decided that it was exactly what my dining table had been lacking. In between, it’s also had a stint on our outdoor table, back when it was warm enough to dine outside. Basically, I’m a convert to preserved flowers and I’m going to have to treat myself to another bouquet for the bedroom!

HERE ARE A FEW TIPS TO HELP YOU SELECT YOUR PERFECT BOUQUET

THINK LONGEVITY.

These are flowers that are designed to last for at least a year, so stick to a bouquet that you love rather than something that might date. Choose colours that fit in with your decor and a style that will work all year round. I might have opted for a bouquet that includes a couple of bold colours, but these are hues that I already have scattered around my house so I didn’t have to worry about the bouquet fitting in.

SIZE MATTERS

Do you want a small bouquet to sit on a shelf or a statement vase of flowers for your dining table? What size vase are you hoping to use? Get out your tape measure and give yourself a rough idea of the size of bouquet you are looking for before you start browsing.

DO YOU PREFER FLOWERS OR STEMS?

The beauty of Shida is that there’s something for everyone. There are large extravagant bouquets full of proteas and roses, more delicate options with gypsophila and daisies, or minimal arrangements that focus on stems with a variety of eucalyptus leaves.