Is “Wildflowering” the Dating Trend of the Summer?

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If you’ve recently found yourself thinking, “Hm, I feel like there hasn’t been a new made-up dating trend with a stupid name in a while,” I have great news: There’s a new made-up dating trend with a stupid name! Enter: “wildflowering,” the first made-up dating trend with a stupid name of summer 2026, baby!

If you now find yourself thinking, “‘Wildflowering?’ Surely that’s not a real thing real people are actually saying in real life?” to that I say: Idk! Someone apparently decided that it is, and it’s literally my job to humor them. God knows I’ve gotta keep putting bread on the table, so let’s do this!

Wildflowering, as I understand it, is essentially just a relaxed approach to dating that involves being open to seeing where things go with a potential new love interest and letting romantic connections develop organically over time, as opposed to more goal-oriented dating where locking down a partner, a label, and a capital-R relationship is the name of the game.

“[Wildflowering] is about dating freely and on your own terms, embracing spontaneity and seeing where new connections might lead,” sexologist Chantelle Otten told Stylist in 2025. The UK-based outlet appears to be the first to have reported on the trend and credits Bumble with coining the term. (My apologies to Bumble.) But despite being at least a year old, wildflowering seems to only just now be popping off as a trend, making headlines and prompting explainers from various publications in recent weeks.

But while it may be newly popular, I’m inclined to say “wildflowering” is really nothing new. In fact, it strikes me as rather similar to another dating trend that tried to be a thing last fall, “leafing.” As sex expert Jaimee Bell told Vice back in October, “‘Leafing’ is all about slowing down, letting go, and allowing things to fall into place naturally. It’s the antidote to toxic trends like ‘cuffing,’ which encourage us to rush in and lock down a partner just to meet society’s expectations.” Swap out the leaves for flowers, and wildflowering is pretty much the same story, different season.

Anyway, obviously unamused though I may be by the relentless churn of whatever AI-powered PR machine keeps coughing up these supposed “trends,” I’ll admit that wildflowering, as a concept, is an approach to dating I can endorse.

As I’ve previously written, “I’m someone with both ‘fun, casual dates’ and ‘a long-term relationship’ in the ‘What I’m Looking For’ section of my dating app profiles. I’m not confused; just generally open to seeing where things go.” Historically, this would’ve made me part of the problem in the eyes of many a frustrated modern dater who prides themselves on “dating with intention” and resents the rest of us for polluting the dating pool with our commitment issues and presumably unhealed attachment styles.

However, I suspect the rise of trends (however manufactured) like “wildflowering” and “leafing” suggests a shift is afoot, one that’s moving daters away from the intentional dating model that’s dominated the discourse in recent years and towards a more loosey-goosey, open-ended, vibes-based way of looking for love.

This is great news for me, a real loosey-goosey kinda gal who runs pretty much entirely on vibes, delusion, and an ungodly amount of Diet Coke. Then again, I am a nightmare. So, good luck to us all out there, I suppose!