Your guide to buying flowers for Valentines day

 Well it's that time of year again, Valentines day.  Here's some tips and tricks from your friendly neighborhood florist for getting the most bang for your buck this Valentines season.

 1.  Do buy early.  If you go into your local florist shop early enough you can still get the pre-Valentines prices.  It's worth it.  Also, don't hate on your florists we have to raise the prices because the wholesalers raise their prices.  It's not about them being greedy its about the bottom line.  Well at least at the shop I work at anyways.  If you go in early and tell them what you want odds are they will be able to pull it for you verses coming in at the last minute and getting what just happens to be "left over"  no matter how much we buy we always run out.  So if your looking for something special like these circus roses (they aren't really circus roses I just call them that) order ahead.  Oddly enough there is a rose called a circus rose and its yellow with orange tips.  In case you were wondering.  .

 2.  Don't use 1800flowers or Teleflora or FTD.  Sure we are affiliated with all of those guys and they are great and all but you got to think,   You are paying for a service and those guys take a cut as well as the florist.  So in the end you may not get the full value of what you paid for (since there's a middleman)   Generally I say hey half the world is middle men and they don't take too kindly to being cut out but if you want to get what you paid for, your best bet is to go to the shop direct and pick up your order, that way you save a delivery charge as well.  If you see a special you like in an advertisement you can buy it directly from the shop you don't have to use the service to get the product.  Also keep in mind a lot of arrangements that you see in the advertisements are only one sided, be sure to check the description.

3.  If you want the flowers to last a long time look into getting stuff with carnations, daisy's and tulips.  Those flowers last the longest.  Sure roses are the go-to but your lucky if they last a week.  I am partial to tulips myself.  When you see tulips you know spring is coming.

4.  If you are getting flowers delivered, sign the card.  Even if you think she's going to know who they are from.  I can't even tell you how many calls we got at the old shop from people wondering who these flowers came from.  Stalking isn't sexy.  If your really that worried that they are cheating just ask them point blank.  Most people have a hard time lying to your face.  If you don't sign the card but pay by a credit card most shops will rat you out anyways if the recipient calls so you might as well just sign it.

5.  If your buying flowers for your wife and your mistress do not buy them at the same shop.  At the old shop I was at he mixed up the cards accidentally (on purpose) just use 2 different florists, or don't be a doushe and cheat on your wife/girl friend.  Seriously though.

Anyways those are all the tips I can think of.  I finally remembered to bring my camera to work and go to snap a pic of one of my vases.  It's a shame a man had to die for that to be sent to his family.  And its a shame I'm short so your not really getting a good angle of it but it was pretty.  I am partial to yellow.  It's funny how when your a designer you get on these kicks, like today I was in a peach and green mood almost everything I did was peach and green.  Just like artists go thew their "blue" phase or whatever it's all the same.  You don't even really realize your doing it most times.

I love to hate Valentines day.  It's fun being busy and knowing your doing something that makes people happy.  This year I get to work with my brother in law he's going to be one of the extra delivery drivers.  Usually we send out anywhere from 15 to 30 arrangements a day,  during Christmas we were sending out about a hundred.  I got a feeling Valentines is going to be worse but at least it's not the mother of all holidays (Mothers day).  Who know's maybe by this time next year I'll have a Valentine of my own.  Stranger things have happened. . .