Name: Petals of Madinah, reviewed
Item: Petals of Madinah
Rating: 6.5

The verdict

Petals of Madinah opens on Sundays, and in a guide of fifty Birmingham florists where almost every single one closes for the weekend's second day, that is not a small operational detail. Ten to three on a Sunday, on top of nine to half past five Monday to Saturday, gives it the widest weekly availability of any conventional shop on this list. It is a family run business on the Washwood Heath Road serving Alum Rock, Saltley, Ward End and the surrounding wards, and its stated specialisms are weddings and funerals. That combination in this particular part of Birmingham means a market with expectations most of the city's florists never encounter: larger scale, stronger colour, garlands and stage work, and events that do not fit the standard Western wedding template. The Sunday opening is a direct consequence of serving communities whose ceremonies do not stop for the British retail week. Most Birmingham florist round-ups do not include shops like this at all, which is a failure of the round-ups rather than of the shops. On the published evidence it is a competent, well-priced, unusually available neighbourhood florist with a clear sense of who it serves. Nothing is stated about sourcing or seasonality, and the house style is conventional within its own tradition rather than distinctive.

Trading is Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm and Sunday 10am to 3pm, from the Washwood Heath Road shop. Same-day delivery runs on a 2pm cut-off across Alum Rock and the surrounding eastern wards. The business is family run with stated specialisms in wedding and funeral arrangements, and also covers birthdays, new births and other occasions. It appears on Direct2Florist for national fulfilment.

Best for

Sunday. If you need a florist on a Sunday in Birmingham your options are close to nil, and this is one of them. Also the obvious choice for weddings and events in the eastern wards.

What I would order

Ring and describe the event rather than the flowers, particularly for a wedding: this shop is used to briefs that do not fit the standard catalogue and will be more useful than a form.

Worth knowing

Nothing is published about prices, sourcing or seasonality. The Sunday hours are short, ten to three, so it is a morning errand rather than an afternoon one. The house style is conventional.

Opens 10am to 3pm on Sundays, which almost nothing else in this guide does.

Who it is not for

Anyone wanting published prices before ordering. Shellies Flowers in Sheldon publishes its range by price band and is four miles east.

How it compares

D Florist on the Alum Rock Road is the nearest comparable shop and carries wedding supplies alongside the flowers. Petals of Madinah publishes far more and opens on Sunday, which makes it the easier of the two to use.

Getting there

Washwood Heath Road, in Ward End towards Alum Rock, on very frequent bus routes from the city centre. There is parking on the surrounding roads. Adderley Park station is about a mile and a half away.

Where this assessment comes from

Desk research only. Hours, address, phone and the same-day cut-off are taken from the shop's own pages and corroborated by directory listings. The observations about the local wedding market are drawn from the shop's stated specialisms and the character of the area, not from having seen the work.

Sources consulted: The business's own website, its Alum Rock delivery page and delivery terms, its Direct2Florist profile, its Instagram account, Yelp's Washwood Heath Road listing, and the Cylex Birmingham record.

This is a desk-based, opinion-led write-up, not an inspection: I have not audited this business, tested a delivery, or spoken to the owner. Everything above is one person’s reading of information that anyone can look up, and none of it represents the views of the owner of this domain. If you run this shop and something here is wrong or out of date, please tell me and I will fix it.