What's the best way to send flowers to England?

September 14, 2006 7:17 AM

What's the best way to order flowers online and send them to a person in London? If it makes a difference, I'm in the States.

My cousin is turning 40 and I'd like to send something that will arrive either the 15th or 16th.

Thank you in advance!

posted by tozturk to home & garden (14 comments total)

Maybe this
posted by dshargel at 7:34 AM on September 14, 2006

Whenever I order flowers from a distance, I always use the series of tubes to find a local florist (either part of a delivery network, or not, as long as theyhave a good website) and contact them directly. This cuts out the middle-man and usually gets you a better level of service.

You may wish to search your recipient's area of London for florists directly.
posted by jammer at 7:36 AM on September 14, 2006

Interflora are totally universal - large numbers of UK florists are part of the network, and you can order online. They work internationally - I recently ordered flowers to be delivered to an address in Canada while I was living in the Falklands and using a UK credit card.

I assume you can use the site to order from the States too. If you try interflora.com (rather than .co.uk, as I linked to above) takes you to FTD.com, so I guess they're the same network, different name.
posted by penguin pie at 7:44 AM on September 14, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Use the magic of Google to find a florist near to where your cousin lives. Then check to see if they have a website in which you can order online or give them a call. I order flowers all the time for my sweetie in Spain and it works like magic.
posted by JJ86 at 7:50 AM on September 14, 2006

I definitely recommend contacting a local florist. My experience is that the arrangement is likely to be better quality - if you contact directly the arrangement will get more personal attention and they'll be able to advise on what they've got in that day. Where in London is your cousin?
posted by patricio at 8:04 AM on September 14, 2006

I order flowers for delivery in the UK including London a lot. Local florists are a mixed bag and not necessarily cheap. I tend to use(upmarket) supermarket chains as the quality is consistent and they're fair value for money. You won't get an imaginative arrangement but you will get exactly what is shown in the picture. In order of preference: Marks and Spencers, Waitrose/John Lewis, Sainsburys. They'll do next day delivery if you order by 5pm (BST).
posted by boudicca at 8:08 AM on September 14, 2006

Second interflora. They connect to local florists for you. I have sent flowers to England, New Zealand and Australia using them, and have always been satisfied.
posted by gaspode at 8:09 AM on September 14, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

From personal experience:
Interflora - no
local florist - worked like a dream. Once I used one (via the phone) that didn't take credit cards so they delivered and trusted me to send a cheque!
Supermarket - !!
posted by i_cola at 9:02 AM on September 14, 2006

I received a gift of orchids today from Marks & Spenser, they are incredible! Each orchid in the bunch of 30 has an individual little phial of water at the base of it's stem, they were hand-wrapped in gorgoeus lavender tissue that matched the tones of the orchids exactly. I'm still grinning, and recommend this arrangment highly. It is the epitome of luxury! Fantastic.

Inside a hand-written note from a friend in Dublin (there are branches of M&S in Ireland too) so all I can say is my vote for the supermarket. They are so much nicer than anything I've had from Interflora
posted by Wilder at 9:23 AM on September 14, 2006

I strongly recommend against using Interflora. They charge a fee to look up a florist a relay your order to them, something you can very easily do yourself online. They'll charge you, say, $80 but only around $50-60 of that will go to actual flowers after "wire charges" and delivery fees and taxes and such.

(My mother owns a flower shop and she even tells her customers not to use 1-800-Flowers, FTD, TeleFlora, Interflora, and the like. It's a rip-off for florists, too.)
posted by chickletworks at 10:08 AM on September 14, 2006

I agree with chickletworks, have heard the same thing from my sister, a florist.
posted by look busy at 10:49 AM on September 14, 2006

I ordered some flowers for my cousin in Holland through these folks and had great success and they also deliver in England. You can also call them at their toll free # if you'd like something specific (which I did since it was a baby-type bouquet that I was requesting).
posted by PsychoKitty at 11:19 AM on September 14, 2006

I also endorse Marks & Spencer flowers. I've used them a lot and the recipients have never been disappointed. Good quality flowers that last for at least 10 days.

One Christmas Eve, the M&S delivery man turned up with the flowers I'd ordered to my aunt's house dressed as Santa Claus, and he was kind enough (even though he was probably hellishly busy) to knock at the house next door and deliver the sack of presents for the kids that my aunt was holding for their parents, as the children watched, open-mouthed, from the window. To me that kind of summed up the quality you get from M&S, they make the effort to be the best.
posted by essexjan at 3:17 PM on September 14, 2006

Google Maps can help you. Take this search as a starting point, and zoom to closer to where your cousin lives (if you know).
posted by antifuse at 2:00 AM on September 15, 2006