High summer is no time for restraint: the gardens are showing off, the terraces of Chelsea are full by six, and jewellery and accessories have decided to join in, sprouting petals, palms and pollen-heavy charms wherever you look. The joy of the botanical kind is that it never wilts, never needs deadheading, and survives a heatwave considerably better than a peony.
Floral flourishes: charms and scarves
Start at the handle: bag charm clipped to a strap does a season’s worth of work in one small gesture. Fendi’s silk foulard makes the same point at the neck — a hand-drawn potting shed of anemones, tulips and wheelbarrows, edged in logo — and knots just as happily around a bag strap. The rest of the look can be as plain as you please.
The full garland: the best floral necklaces and bracelets
For the maximalists, blossoms come strung shoulder to shoulder — pink petals along a gold chain, a sculpted flower rising from ropes of pearls — while Dolce & Gabbana’s Sicilian charm bracelet rattles with coral, majolica and velvet pom-poms. These are the pieces that will do all the talking at a garden party. Let them.
Petals with an edge: floral earrings
For your lobe-wear, things to take an unexpected twist: orchids and palms are conjured from lab-grown gems by Anabela Chan, who says she is at her most creative in nature; pink tourmalines bloom inside halos of diamonds; and for anyone who likes their florals with a little menace, see Jessica McCormack’s blackened gold and diamond daisy hoops.
