Brassica: The ornamental vegetable you’ll adore

As foods, cabbages have been cooked and eaten for more than 4,000 years - in addition to culinary reasons, they were said to also have medicinal properties and served as a hangover cure.

With such a long history, it’s no wonder they’ve also made their way into flower arrangements…in the shape of the wonderful brassica. Here’s how to make the most of these beauties.

Water, feed and snip

As with all our flowers, the first steps are vital. Fill your vase with clean, room temperature water, add flower food and snip an inch of the  stem diagonally.

Remove lower leaves

Make sure to remove any leaves that would otherwise end up in the water - that’s how you keep bacteria at bay.

Open up the brassica petals

While brassica already look cool when they arrive, you can make the most of them by gently peeling back their leaves, one at a time. Splay them out carefully to create a plush vibe.

Change their water

With brassica, you may need to change your water a bit more often than with other stems as otherwise you may notice a cabbage-y smell.

Do not eat

While brassic are a member of the cabbage family, please note that they are not edible. But as we head into autumn and winter, the supermarket shelves will be full of their safe-to-consume cousins.

You can find our star arrangements featuring this wonderful stem here.