As usual , I have high hopes for my Mother ’ s Day bouquet tomorrow . My three teenage children know how I adore fresh flowers and , as I never buy them for myself , my annual bunch — delivered to my bedside with a trio of shy grins and breakfast on a tray — is always a real treat . This year , I ’ m holding out for a posy of peonies and blush roses , or perhaps a hand-tied bouquet of wildflowers from the expensive florist down the road . But if my children have cottoned on to the latest floral trend , this year ’ s bouquet might be a little different . Scroll down for video . Can you tell the difference ? : Department store John Lewis said sales of fakes has risen by 71 per cent from last year - so Annael Cole has challenged to top florist to find out if they can look as good as the real thing . For according to John Lewis , sales of artificial flowers are soaring , with customers snapping up plastic and silk blooms instead of real stems . In the run-up to this weekend , the store has seen a 71 per cent increase in sales of fake bunches , compared with the same time last year . As someone who relishes the scent of real flowers , I ’ m astounded . If my children tiptoed into my bedroom with a bunch of plastic roses — as found in dodgy hotels and cheap Chinese restaurants — I ’ d be crestfallen . They remind me of my husband ’ s great-grandmother , who used them to cover damp patches on her tablecloths or of sad seaside B & Bs in the Seventies . All the ones I ’ ve come across haven ’ t been a patch on the real thing . However , florists say artificial flowers have greatly improved in recent years , with new , realistic designs . They use them in weddings and high-end events , with displays made to look and feel exactly like freshly-cut stems . So , is it really possible to fake a good bouquet ? I challenged leading florist Andrew Devonport , co-owner and creative director of London ’ s Wildabout Flowers , to make up three identical pairs of Mother ’ s Day arrangements — one real , one fake — to see if I could tell the real blooms from their silk stand-ins ...
Florists across the country are preparing for a rush on flowers for recent years . But department store John Lewis says sales of artificial flowers are soaring . Those in the know say phony florals have really improved in Sunday . But can a fake ever be as good as the real thing ? Femail puts it to the test .