Valentine’s Day is less than one week away. By paying attention to whom you are purchasing from and what you are purchasing you can get more and better flowers for less money.

Like most purchases of perishable goods, you are always better off purchasing the goods as close to where they are going to be delivered as possible. Think that ordering flowers in a box which is shipped through UPS makes sense? Flowers (especially roses) like it cool and wet. A cardboard box being thrown around in the back of a delivery truck is not an environment conducive to any flower looking its best. Then, after the arduous journey, your loved one has the joy of trimming the flowers, adding water and putting them in the vase. We send flowers so that our loved ones are amazed with us. Presentation is everything. And this presentation lacks in every respect. Sure the price looked good but in the end the effort more often than not falls flat.

Another method is to work with the large national web sites / wire services such as FTD.COM, 1-800 FLOWERS, and TELEFLORA. Here, your order is transmitted to a local shop (most of the time) and the fulfilling shop then delivers the flowers to your loved one. While far better than boxed flowers for presentation impact, the fulfilling florist is always scraping to break even on the order. Generally what you see on the web when you are ordering is what you get – almost. The wire services take almost 1/3 of the order amount leaving the florist very little money to fill the vase with the biggest, freshest and most beautiful flowers. One quick note, you can also walk in to your local florist to help select the arrangement and they can transmit the order to the recipients local shop. Clearly better than box delivered but there is a better way.

Your best strategy is to order directly from a florist close to your intended recipient. This way, 100% of the money collected goes directly in to making the maximum impact with your gift. The internet makes this simple. Just type in “flower” or “florist” and the recipients town name or zip code and bam, up pops a map with florists in the area. Many will have web sites you can order from directly. Also, you can call them and specify what you are looking for.

On direct florist orders many shops will offer discounts and or reduced delivery fees since they are working directly with you and not having to pay wire services and other shops commissions. You get prettier arrangements with better containers. Michael’s Flower Girl for example will deliver free to their 92120 zip code and offer 10% discount to military stationed anywhere in the world. Julie Wittenberg, owner of Michael’s Flower Girls comments, “we take pride in everything we do. While we are happy to fulfill the orders we get from the wire services we put an extra effort in to orders placed directly with us. We feel a special bond with our direct customers. They have put their trust in us to exceed their expectations. It is a trust we don’t take lightly.”

Now that you know the smart choice is to order directly from a florist close to intended recipient, it time to consider what you are going to order. Valentine’s day is all about the rose but all roses are not created equal. Roses are categorized by stem length namely 50mm 60mm and 70mm. The classic “long stem red rose” is 70mm in length. If what you ordering says red roses, it is not going to be the classic long stem red rose. A huge percentage of the worlds rose production is consumed for Valentine’s Day and everyone pays for that. If you can be a little flexible and can don’t need long stem red roses, you can make an amazing impact for significantly less money. Also be aware that the overall presentation impact is as much driven by the other greens and filler to complete the arrangement. Skimp on this and or the container and the roses look like just roses. Do it right and you look like a hero.

Still want to send Roses but want don’t have to have red? Many florists are forced to buy other colors to get red (white, pink, purple etc) and need to sell these other colors at a discount. How about mixing red with other colors to look like a superstar.

Then you can really mix it up by trying some Tulips. These are striking and last a long time when treated correctly. Available in all the same colors as roses, what a great way to show you can think outside the box and save about 20% over the classic long stem red rose.

Antherium Plants are another excellent choice and have an added benefit…they are a plant and last for as long as you keep them alive! What better way to say you love can last forever.

Employ these two simple strategies of where and what you buy and your loved one will smile from ear to ear. You will too because you got more value for less money.