Father's Day Flowers for a Grave: What to Send and What Holds Up in June

Father's Day is quieter at the cemetery than Mother's Day, and in some ways that makes it harder. There is less of a crowd to carry you, and more of a sense that you should have been the one to go. Flowers placed at his grave that weekend, whether by you or for you, close that gap.

Flowers that suit a father's grave

There is no rule that says a man's grave needs a particular kind of flower, and plenty of fathers loved roses. But when families ask, these are the arrangements they tend to choose:

• Sunflowers. Warm, sturdy and bright from across the lawn. The most-chosen flower for fathers and grandfathers, and for anyone who loved being outside.
• Red, white and blue. Father's Day sits three weeks after Memorial Day, and for veterans a patriotic arrangement often does double duty.
• Deep reds and golds. Roses, gerberas and marigolds in strong colors that hold up visually in the high sun of June.
• Something from his life. Families tuck in a small fishing lure, a golf ball, a team ribbon. Check that the cemetery allows small items; most do if they are secured to the arrangement rather than loose on the ground.

June heat and what survives it

Father's Day is the first decoration holiday of real summer. In most of the country the third Sunday in June brings full sun, hot afternoons and afternoon storms. Fresh flowers left at a grave in those conditions wilt the same day and are cleared by the crew within the week.

Silk arrangements are made for it. They do not need water, they do not wilt, and a well-made one keeps its color through July and August. Bright and saturated colors fade slowest, another reason sunflowers and deep reds work so well in June.

Timing the delivery

Have the flowers placed by the Friday before Father's Day. Family who visit on Saturday will see them, and the Runner avoids the Sunday traffic. If the cemetery has a summer rule against artificial flowers, the office will say so; many that do still allow them in a vase, or for a window around the holiday.

If it is the first Father's Day since he died

The first one is different. Many families find it helps to do two things: place flowers at the grave, and do something he would have done that day, together. The photo of the flowers in place gives everyone who could not travel a way to be part of the first, and the memorial page that BloomBridge creates with each delivery gives them somewhere to leave a note.