Traditional floral prints are a very British obsession – while international designers may occasionally flirt with graphic flora or other horticulturally inspired patterns, it is the Brits who always give florals the most romantic, delicate, and pretty treatment. Perhaps it’s because of their national fixation on gardening, which reaches its glorious peak next week at the Chelsea Flower Show. Or it could be the endless summer events that demand the most feminine fashions, whether it’s a day at Royal Ascot or an evening at Glyndebourne. Whatever the reason, floral prints never seem to lose their allure.

To underline the garden theme, Paul Smith showed his spring collection on a turfed catwalk, which must have played havoc with his models’ spindly heels (you should think very carefully about the ground at any event this summer – a delicate wedge or flat-soled shoe is a wise choice if you are spending time on grass). Mr. Smith’s collection is packed with the sort of typically English florals that seem tailor-made for tea parties and village fetes: Liberty prints appear on trench coats, shirts, and coquettish skirts that stop just above the knee. There are also rose-print blazers, pretty shirt dresses, and fluttering, frill-sleeved blouses.

Nicole Farhi may be French, but she is an established member of the British fashion scene. She, too, has made use of typically English florals throughout her summer collection – including faded garden prints in soft, pastel blue, and primrose yellow.

It isn’t only the old-school designers that are in a floral mood – modernists such as Hussein Chalayan and Burberry Prorsum’s Christopher Bailey have put such prints center stage this season. Mr. Chalayan used washed-out, soft blue patterns on chiffon skirts and dresses, as well as strong inky prints, while Mr. Bailey splashed faded florals onto his gorgeous chiffon dresses and full skirts, and more chintzy prints onto jackets and trenches.

Given the changeable nature of the weather, however, perhaps the smartest investment is a floral summer coat.