Valentine's Day brings out romantics, and buying a bouquet of fragrant flowers is one of the many ways people can express their affection for a loved one.
Whether it's a florist or the local grocery store, here are some helpful hints for choosing the perfect flowers for that special someone.
Kristin Ames, owner of Posy Flower Shop in North Vancouver, says when buying flowers, start by establishing a budget.
That helps narrow down your options, she notes.
Ames says red roses tend to be chosen because of their widely recognized symbolism.
"Red is still kind of king when it comes to romance," she says.
"A lot of people are still interested in the standard dozen long-stemmed red roses. That's by far the most popular."
Flowers come in a variety of shapes, sizes and presentation styles and navigating through them depends on what someone is looking for. Cut flower vases and bouquets, such as presentation bouquets (cut flowers wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon) or a hand-tied bouquet, which includes cut flowers that have been arranged into a round-style bouquet, are an option for those who don't want the long-stemmed roses and can fit any price point.
"You can always throw a couple of roses in if you feel that you want to have the roses in there, but if not there's so many options to choose from," says Ames.
A potted orchid or an orchid planter can also make a good Valentine's Day gift with lasting appeal.
"They have an extremely long lifespan, so the smaller ones you're looking at sort of three months," says Ames. "And the bigger ones can last up to five months in bloom, if they're cared for properly."
And for those who are budget-conscious, Ames recommends seasonal flowers, such as tulips, that will look nice but are not going to break the bank.
"You can get a really nice, big colourful bunch of tulips for not a huge outlay of cash," she says. "I think that's always a really nice option."
To get the best quality bouquets, Ames recommends checking for wilted or yellowed foliage.
"Take a look at the water in the bucket that the flowers are sitting in, and if the water looks murky or has leaves floating in it, that means that bacteria's probably already started to grow in there and I would probably not go for that," she says.
"Your flowers should be refrigerated, so you want to be picking flowers out of a cooler. All of those things will help to increase the vase life of the flowers."
Ames also recommends picking flowers that still have unopened blooms.
"The open blooms always look the nicest, but go for something that still has some blooms that are closed because you're going to get more longevity out of it," says Ames.
"It may not look as flashy right off the bat, but it's going to look great in a day or two in the house."
