A few weeks ago, we asked our readers not to send us any Mother’s Day floral disasters. That’s because you weren’t going to have any floral disasters. Reader R. really did her best: she located a florist near her mom’s home, placed her order directly with them, and even discussed it with the shop. She was still disappointed with the end result––though her mom probably loved it, because that’s how moms are.

R. wrote:

The thing is — I DID go with a local florist! I read your site all the time, and I know the issues with big floral companies. So I found a tiny florist by her home, chose that photo from their website, and discussed with the florist. My mom loves white roses.

Still, they failed. Starting to think every florist fails. I wish moms didn’t like flowers so much.

Not every florist fails. The reason for the discrepancy here probably has to do with three dimensions: in the photo, every flower is facing the camera and…well, maybe all of the greenery is facing the back. Using a local florist isn’t a foolproof method to get perfect flowers, but at least there’s a clear culprit when the flowers really are crappy.

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