Can I send flowers to the Holy Land?

July 17, 2007 3:25 PM

Sending flowers to a war zone. How?

A friend in Jerusalem has just given birth; I'd like to send flowers. FTD offers the service (I'm in Canada) but I'm wondering if there's a similar service that a) will deliver something nicer than the usual ghastly bunch of baby's breath and roses and b) will tell me if it can deliver in the "wrong" (ie poor, Arab) part of town.

Any advice on this strange request welcome.

Thanks!

posted by docgonzo to Shopping (5 answers total)

what about sending a bouquet /cake made of nappies(diapers) and booties and dummies(pacifiers)?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130135229619&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=130132279590&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget#ebayphotohosting
or
http://megan.kiwi.gen.nz/NappyCake/

having taken a baby to a poorer country, i would have been more appreciative of the quality and durable items, than the flowers. nice baby stuff can be hard to find. best of luck.

hope your friend and the baby are both well.
posted by taff at 3:37 PM on July 17, 2007

I hate roses and baby's breath arrangements too, and ghastly is the perfect word to describe them! There are places online like this, but I have no idea how reputable they are. You could use Teleflora or 1-800-Flowers as well. I'm pretty sure that no matter what item you pick on either site, you're not going to get exactly that anyway - the flowers available this time of year in Jerusalem are not the same flowers available in North America, where Teleflora and 1 800 Flowers and FTD are located.

Every florist has a flower bible - a book that tells them which flowers every country is likely to have on hand, and whether or not countries do arrangements (cut flowers arranged in a vase or basket) or whether they strictly do loose bouquets (which are more in the Euro tradition), and the requested starting minimum for product and delivery for that country. If you call a local florist in your area, ask them to consult that book. All Teleflora-associated florists have it, not sure about the others. If you can wait until I go to work tomorrow, I can email you the particulars about Jerusalem, if there actually are any.
posted by iconomy at 3:39 PM on July 17, 2007

Now I haven't tried this for Isreal, but what I usually do is search the web for the site of a florist local to the intended recipient (hopefully one with cool funky arrangements) and call them directly. Will that work in this case?
posted by winston at 3:49 PM on July 17, 2007

ProFlowers offers international delivery. I've only used them for domestic so far, but have been blown away by the quality of both their product and their customer service. They ship direct from the growers, so there's no extra warehouse time, and no middleman markup.

If their international product is half as good as their domestic, your friend will get one of the most gorgeous deliveries of her life (after the baby, of course).
posted by spinturtle at 7:08 PM on July 17, 2007

here are a few local sites -

http://www.flowers.co.il/Flowers-Israel/index.aspx?op=keeplang

http://www.zerli.co.il/Results.aspx?aid=3&lang=en

http://www.flowers-israel.net/
posted by mirileh at 8:47 AM on July 18, 2007