Flowers insolita Blog

I found this touching video on youtube.  It’s a commercial for an insurance company in Thailand.  Gosh, it’s so well-made that almost succeeded to make me cry.

There is a scene (at 2:01) where the man was giving flowers to the girl.  Nothing gorgeous, just a tiny little flower he probably had just picked somewhere.  She kept it even after it had wilted away…

Flowers can send a message that you deeply care about the person you are sending flowers to.  A flower bouquet is a very emotional gift.  I just hope that people still remember that.

We are now on Facebook!

Go to our Facebook page.

I haven’t decided what to do with it, but our current plan is to use it to announce our Specials and news, and also to answer questions.

So if you already have Facebook account, please become a “fan”!

We have expanded our delivery coverage and reduced the delivery fees in many area!

Now our local delivery area ($8.95 delivery charge) includes: Centerport, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Dix Hills, Greenlawn, Huntington (Station), Melville, (East) Northport, Oyster Bay, Plainview, Syosset, and Woodbury.

Non-local delivery zone I ($11.95) now includes: Bayville, Deer park, Hicksville, Jericho, Kings Park, Old Bethpage, and Wheatley Heights.

Non-local delivery zone II ($13.95) now includes: Bay Shore, Bethpage, Brentwood, Central Islip, Farmingdale, Hauppauge, Islandia, Locust Valley, Nissequogue, Smithtown, St James, and Wyandach.

Thank you!

Our thanksgiving specials are here!

Thanksgiving centerpieces with candles

Thanksgiving cornucopia

Cornucopia fruit-gourmet basket

Order early!

(Authentic) Rainbow roses from Netherlands

“Rainbow roses”, also known as “Happy Roses” by the original developer, are actually dyed white roses.  Using a patented method, they are dyed in such a way that each petal acquires different coloration, resulting in brillaint “rainbow” colors.

Flowers insolita can obtain these unique roses from Holland for you.  If you are interested, please take a look at our “Rainbow Roses | Happy Roses” page.

For more info, visit:

www.happy-roses.com

This video is from Reuter news.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=8040

Other videos are here:

http://www.happy-roses.com/videogallery/

Cheap knockoff from South America

Recently, we became aware that knockoffs of rainbow roses from South America started circulating in the market.  They are significantly cheaper than authentic Rainbow roses from Holland.

We have tested this knockoff and found that their quality does not meet our standard.

Their colors are dull (compare the two pictures).  Also, many buds fail to open.

Flowers insolita believes that consumers should stay away from these knockoff.

Don't waste your money on flower-order middle-man!

If you order flower delivery online, chances are that you are placing your order with a middle-man.  And you are paying an unnecessary middle-man’s fee, without realizing it.

For example, when you place your order with a well-known national flower company (the one whose name starts with “1″), you will be charged with $13.99.  They call it “Service Fee” and you will not see this fee till the very last step of ordering.

This $13.99 is NOT a delivery or “Shipping & Handling” fee, which is already included in the merchandise price.  This fee is nothing but a middle-man’s surcharge.

In fact, there’s no need to pay this extra fee at all.  How can you avoid this completely unnecessary fee?

Call a local florist in the destination town directly, that’s how.  Middle-men, including the one that starts with “1″, send your order to one of those local florists anyway.  They earn 20% sales commission from the florist in the process (in addition to the middle-man’s surcharge).

For more info about flower-order middle-men and their deceptive tactics to rip you off,  read Fake “Local Florists”.  For a full explanation, visit Florist Detective.

Last week I was attacked by a Canadian goose.

I was delivering flowers to a house in Lloyd Harbor.  I saw a family of geese sunbathing in the front lawn.

I passed them, careful not to step on their poop all over the place, heading to the front porch.

All the sudden, a big goose started charging at me!  I run for life.  This is a big bird with strong beak, and I wasn’t ready to serve my toes or fingers to him.

I thought of calling 9-11.  However, the last thing I wanted was to end up in a local news as a guy who called the cop because of an attack goose.  That’s not going to help my manhood self-esteem.  Besides, that would give my wife a perfect punchline to humiliate me in front of our mutual friends.

So I decided not to call.  I just run to the side door and rang the bell.  No one came to the door, so I left the flowers there.  It’s quite possible that people in that house was too afraid to come out.

If you have any doubt on how vicious a Canadian goose can be, take a look at the video below.

watch?v=6OStX_wrWGg

Decades ago, if you needed flowers, you went to a local florist.  You had to, because there were no other place to buy flowers.

Not now.  We have so many competitors selling flowers.  As the result, traditional florists have been steadily losing the market share, especially to supermarkets and online retailers.

We would like to be more competitive.  We would like to know why consumers are not buying more flowers from local florists.  Is it because of the price, convenience, products, value, service, all of the above and more?

Please take our survey and let us know what we should be doing to become more competitive.  Thank you!

Survey: Why are you not buying more flowers from local florists?

Whatever your opinion on Mr Obama might be, we’ve got to give this man a credit for buying flowers to his wife from a local florist.

For many men, a local florist can be a confusing, intimidating place to go to.  They don’t know what they are looking at and have no idea what they should be buying.

Yet, if a guy gives a florist’s bouquet to his wife or girl-friend, she knows the man made efforts for her.  She understands that he probably didn’t feel comfortable with going into a florist, and she appreciates it.

Making efforts is what counts here.

Imagine another guy who just picked up a bunch of flowers at a local supermarket and gave it to his wife.  She may not say it, but knows right away that he did this because of convenience and price.  She wonders: Does he care about me?  Am I not even worth the inconvenience of going to a local florist?

Same goes for online flower order.  Convenient.  Is your wife worth more than a few clicks? Of course she is.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of flowers as a gift.

According to a national survey conducted by SAF (Society of American Florists), a whopping 92% of women remeber the last time they received flowers.

Here’s other results that might interest you.

• 88% of survey respondents say a gift of flowers changes their mood for the better.
• 83% say they like to receive flowers unexpectedly.
• 86% say receiving flowers makes them feel special.
• 99% say that a person who gives flowers is thoughtful.
• 89% believe the giver is sophisticated.

Again, please remember that essence of gift-giving is to show your caring.  We understand it may be inconvenient for a guy to go to a local florist, order a bouquet, and wait for 10 min.  But it’s such a small “price” to pay, if you can make your wife smile, don’t you think?

Finally, our Holiday Specials are ready to order. Here’s our lineup this year:

1) Traditional Christmas Centerpiece

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2) FTD “Winter Garden” Centerpiece

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3) Amaryllis Centerpiece

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4) Amaryllis in a vase

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5) Poinsettia decorated

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6) Christmas blooming-plant baskets

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7) Boxwood tree

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8) Edible Christmas tree

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9) Fruit & Gourmet basket

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10) Village Gourmet basket

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If you order these products online, you will receive a $5 discount. Please use the promo code that’s “one800sucks” (no space) during checkout. No offense intended. :)

Happy Holidays!!!