Not all florists are created equal.
With so many florists to choose from it’s not as simple as click and deliver. Here’s a low down of where you can buy flowers across Melbourne:
Florist shops;
Supermarket flowers;
Service station flowers;
Online Flowers;
Online Middle Men or Brokers
And then there are florists like Petal and Rose who deliver flowers locally from South Yarra to Hawthorn; From Toorak to Caulfield.
Petal and Rose Tulips ‘en masse’,
Florist Shops
Pros ✅
🌸 You can walk in; (excluding Covid-19 Lockdowns)
🌸 Browse the flowers;
🌸 Pick exactly what you want and walk out with them;
🌸 Generally trustworthy.
Cons ❌
🥀 You don’t know how fresh the flowers are;
🥀 May pay extra as they have higher outgoings;
🥀 You may have to queue on busy days;
🥀 You have to find parking;
🥀 You deliver yourself.
Supermarket Flowers/Service Station Flowers
Pros ✅
🌸 Pick up your groceries or fill your car with petrol and buy flowers at the same time;
🌸 They are wrapped and ready to go;
🌸 They are generally mixed bunches.
🌸 Typically, cheaper than other flower sellers.
Cons ❌
🥀 How fresh can they be?
🥀 Often in buckets outside in all weather environments;
🥀 Just like fruit and veggies, flowers are a produce;
🥀 Your supermarket flowers generally are stored in fridges and then can sit in a bucket for days on the floor;
🥀 They are typically imported, factory produced and handled.
🥀 Not great quality.
Online Florists
There are many really great online florists (I’m one of them!) however, this does vary across the board. You have super popular ones that supply nationally and are super successful.
Popular larger sites offering daily blooms.
Pros ✅
🌸 Quick and easy to order without speaking to anyone;
🌸 Typically, pre-packaged
🌸 Perhaps cheaper than other smaller online florists; good variety of gifts to add on.
Cons ❌
🥀 Hard to speak to anyone;
🥀 Typically, one size fits all;
🥀 Generally, one or two designs of what is in season;
🥀 You don’t see what actually is sent to the recipient.
Smaller online: (think Petal and Rose)
There are certainly many to choose from and, like all industries, some are better than others but here’s my objective approach.
Pros ✅
Petal and Rose
🌸 Personalised service;
🌸 Can speak to the florist;
🌸 Genuine floral service and guidance;
🌸 Handwritten cards;
🌸 Typically get to see what you are sending (I always send photographs of the flowers and often capture a photo of the recipient if possible);
Cons ❌
🥀 Sometimes a personalised florist needs more notice;
🥀 Some do same day delivery but don’t always have the stock so a trip to the flower markets is a necessity. (I see this as a Pro – as your flowers are super fresh)
🥀 Check their same day delivery cut off time – Mine is 10.00am;
🥀 You can’t come in and see the flower as online florists don’t always have shop fronts;
🥀 Perhaps a smaller select choice of add on gifts;
🥀 Some charge excessive delivery fees – Petal and Rose deliver free to specific areas.
Middle Men or Broker Florists
There are many sites and I won’t name and shame but anytime you see a 1300 number associated with a site or no phone number at all it can sometimes mean that they are a ‘broker service’. I.E.: they are not Florists. They simply take the order from you and they receive a commission for doing so, and then they outsource to a florist in your delivery area.
Pros ✅
🌸 Sorry, I tried but can’t think of any to be frank!
🌸 Ah I got one – if you want to order flowers for several locations across the country – you can go to a broker who will do the hard work for you on one site.
Cons ❌
🥀 You often don’t get what you asked for as there is often a breakdown of communication between you, the middle man and the florist.
🥀 There will be no consistency if ordering for multiple locations as they will use different florists depending on location.
🥀 My advice, check the Google rankings
Hobby florists
This is when someone loves floristry and they want to have a go. Good on them I say, but again, choose carefully.
Pros ✅
🌸 Typically, less expensive than more experienced florists;
🌸 You are giving someone an opportunity to practice their hobby which can be a gift in itself if you are feeling generous and optimistic.
Cons ❌
🥀 Little experience, may not know what’s in season;
🥀 May charge excessive delivery costs.
🥀 They don’t always have access to quality wholesalers and buy their flowers retail.
My professional advice!
Flowers are not cheap but you do get what you pay for. Like any industry it all depends of supply and demand. That’s why I opt for locally grown wholesale flowers when I can.
It’s a consumers’ market as there is a lot of competition. Check their Google rankings (reviews on a website mean very little these days as all have control of what goes on our sites); ask for photos of the end result and check with your recipient that they have been received.
The flaw in this industry, sadly, is that a customer pays for the flowers and the recipient is very unlikely to say ‘thanks but the flowers died the day I got them” or ‘thanks but they looked really cheap’. There is a lot of trust than goes into buying something that will be delivered to someone else when it is a fresh product like flowers. Online, you are simply looking at a pretty photo but one that is showing the largest size possible when in reality you are ordering the smallest price point and the bouquet will not be what you imagine at all.
So, of course, I’m going to plug my own services but I assure you at Petal and Rose, you get what you pay for and my service value is ‘under promise and over delivery’.
✅ Check out all my Google reviews here: (sorry about the elongated link 🥴 )