Why are we still yammering about Valentine’s Day flowers? The holiday itself is long gone, but as birthdays, funerals, hospitalizations, and other occasions come and go, the problems with using national Big Flower websites remain. As another major flower-sending holiday, Mother’s Day, approaches, we’re sharing this story from reader Josh about how wonderfully his order from a local florist turned out.

Remember that when you’re hunting for a local florist, the place that you find may not be all that local. The wire services run ads and market heavily, but in some cases ultimately hurt the same local businesses that you’re trying to patronize. Make sure that you know how to find a truly local florist instead of a fake local florist and deal with the shop directly.

Josh writes:

I admit, I was a bad husband. I waited until the very last minute to send my wife flowers for Valentine’s Day. Previously I had been told that she didn’t like these sorts of superfluous showings of affections as the flowers just wilt and die and cost way too much. Of course, she’s also been leaving conflicting word bombs [alluding] to wanting a bouquet of flowers to be delivered. So, at 6am on Valentine’s Day, I went online, first to 1-800-Flowers.com, and then to a local florist’s website. This florist is a pretty large chain in our area, with multiple stores, and are part of the Teleflora network. Looking through the massively overpriced sets of flowers, I found a bouquet of Spray Roses for $39.99. After rush delivery it came to just over $54. The picture looked great but I knew not to expect what was being presented.

So you can imagine my surprise when I received texts from my wife thanking me for such a beautiful bouquet. I asked for pictures and she sent these 2 (the full shot when she received them around 10am and the 2nd just before she left with the blooms opening).

So while everyone is posting their depressing photos, I have a good experience to share as well as another testimony in favor of the local florist….you definitely get what you pay for.

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