Ordering Flowers Online 101
ST. PETERSBURG – Valentine’s Day is just a week away. If you’ve ever received flowers you know just how much joy they can bring. Buying the best ones, though, can be a challenge. So how do you know you’re really getting what you pay for?
We ordered a dozen roses online with vases from three different companies. Two arrived in boxes – Proflowers.com and Fromyouflowers.com, which offers international delivery. Our third arrangement was from Pickupflowers.com. When the first two arrived we took them straight to The Flower Centre of St. Petersburg so a professional florist could weigh in.
Bruce Wilson was taken aback not by the Pickupflowers.com initially, but mostly by what came with them. He said, “The card itself is like copy and paste and it says ‘Occasion – Other -‘ then it has ‘Card message. Hope you enjoy your (abbreviated) flowers’. Oh, flowers is on the other line. If you’re going to spend this money you want it to be very professional because you’re trying to convey a feeling.”
That arrangement set us back $68.85.
Wilson inspected them for us closely and said, “Some of the roses are nice.” But he pointed to the pink filler flowers, explaining that they weren’t open yet. He added, “Everything is just kind of shoved in.” He pointed to the vase and the greenery floating in the water which breeds bacteria too and said, “That’s a real problem because then your roses aren’t going to last.”
Our Pro Flowers were less than 60 bucks, costing us $58.80.
The flowers were stuck in what’s called oasis to keep the moisture in. They came wrapped in a special tissue paper along with a plastic wrapper, but that wasn’t enough to protect the roses. Wilson said he would never send out roses in that damaged condition.
He was also concerned with the condition of the leaves on the stem. He added, “They’re falling off. They already have rot on them.” Wilson says arranging them at home could be a challenge too. “We have two pieces of greenery for 12 roses.”
We enlisted Christina Martinez, one of our staff members to check out our fromyouflowers.com. She was happy with the card. We ordered long-stemmed red roses from the company. They were the cheapest, at $56.97.
Martinez’s first impression was a good one. She said, “They’re beautiful!” They came securely placed in a cardboard box wrapped in tissue paper and plastic wrap. The roses were anchored inside the vase.
When Martinez took a closer look at the roses she found a small amount of damage. But she said she liked the greenery, the baby’s breath, and how they flowers were already arranged.
But back at The Flower Centre, Wilson says why take a chance? On a non-holiday, his red roses are $65.00. For Valentine’s Day, of course, they’re more. He says, “These are $85 but this versus these? There’s greenery – there’s a nice filler – and this is a nice presentation.”
He said if you’re looking for the Wow factor and a way to save some green you need to develop a relationship with your neighborhood florist. He showed us all types of beautiful arrangements in every price point and says most local florists always offer a guarantee. Wilson says, “Expert help is the key.”
But Christina said even after a week her online roses were still going strong. “I think they’re beautiful and I’d be very happy to get them,” she noted.
We bought some of our roses online for as little as $19.99 but we spent another $40.00 just on all the delivery and handling fees. Wilson says you can instantly save $10 to $15 when using a local florist if you’re willing to deliver the flowers yourself.