What's in season: a New Zealand flower calendar

Spring, September to November

Spring is when the natives wake up and the garden festivals begin.

• Kōwhai flowers from August to October, with hanging clusters of yellow flowers.
• Kākābeak blooms from late winter into early spring, at its best in September and October.
• Puawānanga (native clematis) has white flowers from July to November.
• Daffodils mark late winter and early spring; in 2021 Christchurch City Council planted 40,000 daffodil bulbs in Lyttelton's cemeteries to flower then. Carterton, which calls itself New Zealand's daffodil capital, holds its Daffodil Festival on the second Sunday in September, and Christchurch Botanic Gardens hosted the first Daffodil Sunday in 1938.
• Blossom: Alexandra has held a Blossom Festival every September since 1957.
• Tulips: Southland's tulip fields bloom in October and November, but they are grown for bulbs. The flowers are cut off and discarded, not exported.

Late spring: peonies, roses and lavender

November is a turning point.

• Peonies. RNZ reports that the export season usually starts in the last week of November, peaks for only two or three days and lasts about three weeks. About 40 export growers are spread through the South Island and the bottom of the North Island, and Central Otago's cool climate suits them. If you want peonies, late November and early December is the window.
• Roses. November is rose-festival month. Te Awamutu, known as the Rose Town of New Zealand, revived its Rose Sunday in November 2019. Hamilton's Pacific Rose Bowl Festival runs from 12 to 15 November 2026, and the Parnell Festival of Roses in Auckland is on Sunday 8 November 2026.
• Lavender. At a 12-hectare farm near Wānaka, lavender starts to bloom around late November.

Open-garden festivals to plan around

Spring is also open-garden season, a good guide to what is flowering in each region:

• Dunedin: the GO Ōtepoti garden festival held its first spring event, GO Bloom, from 17 to 26 October 2026, succeeding the former Rhododendron Festival.
• Taranaki: the Taranaki Garden Festival, in its 39th year, opened gardens across the region from 30 October to 8 November 2026, alongside the Taranaki Fringe Garden Festival.
• Marlborough: Garden Marlborough runs from 5 to 8 November 2026, with garden tours, workshops and a Sunday fête.
• Bay of Plenty: the Garden & Art Festival runs from 19 to 22 November 2026, with over 60 gardens open across Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and the Western Bay of Plenty.
• Upper Hutt: Aston Norwood Gardens holds a Blossom Valley festival each spring, typically from mid-September to early October.

Summer, December to February

Summer is peak season for native flowers: RNZ notes that Christmas falls in their main blooming period.

• Pōhutukawa flowers mainly in November and December, and rātā from November to January.
• Harakeke flowers from late October to February.
• Hydrangeas are a summer flower here. In February 2024 they were New Zealand's most popular export flower, with 11 tonnes sent overseas.
• Calla lilies. Historically, New Zealand and South Africa have supplied the world market from October to January.
• Roses keep going: Rotorua's Klamath Falls Rose Gardens bloom from mid-November to June and are at their best in summer.

February is also the peak month for imported flowers, mostly roses and chrysanthemums, because of Valentine's Day. Our guide to where New Zealand's flowers come from explains the trade.

Autumn and winter, March to August

The cooler months are quieter, but this is orchid season.

• Cymbidium orchids. One large grower near Pukekohe exports about 90% of its cut flowers, and its peak season is winter. Other growers report picking from about May to October.
• Rhododendrons. At Pukeiti, near New Plymouth, the rhododendron collection's peak flowering runs from July to October.
• Puawānanga begins flowering in July, and some kōwhai start as early as May.
• Mānuka is recorded flowering throughout the year.

Some rose gardens carry on into autumn: Rotorua's Klamath Falls roses keep blooming until June.

Why some lists disagree

You will find many month-by-month flower calendars online, mostly published by florists. We found that they don't always agree with growers. Peonies are a good example: some florist calendars place them much earlier in spring, while growers and RNZ put the start of the season in the last week of November. That is why we have only included flowers whose timing is backed by a grower, a news report or a botanical record.

Two more things to keep in mind:

• Native flowers aren't bouquet stock. Kōwhai, pōhutukawa and kākābeak are lovely inspiration, but they are not sold as cut flowers. Our native flowers guide covers them in depth.
• Imports fill gaps. Commercial imports are allowed under the Ministry for Primary Industries' import health standard, so florists can offer roses and other flowers outside the local season.