Birthday Flowers: How to Pick Something They Will Actually Love

Birthday flowers are the easiest order we take and the one people most often get slightly wrong. Not badly wrong - just generic. A dozen roses to someone who is not a roses person is a kind gesture that lands like a gift card.

Here is how to pick something that actually sounds like the person, without needing to know anything about flowers.

Start with what the room looks like

You almost certainly know more than you think. Picture their kitchen, their desk, their front room. Is it white and tidy, or warm and full of colour? Do they have plants everywhere or nothing green at all?

That single observation is worth more than any flower knowledge. Tell us "her whole house is white and cream, she'd hate anything loud" and we will build something they will love. It is the most useful sentence you can give a florist.

Colour, in plain terms

• Bright and mixed - sunflowers, gerbera daisies, hot pink, orange. Reads as fun and celebratory. Good for someone outgoing, good for an office desk, good for a friend rather than a partner.
• Soft and tonal - blush, peach, cream, a little lavender. Reads as thoughtful and grown-up. Safest choice when you are not sure.
• All one colour - a bunch of nothing but yellow, or nothing but white. Looks far more designed than a mix, and often costs less because we are buying depth rather than variety.
• Their favourite colour - obvious, and people forget it constantly. If you know it, say it.

The size question

Bigger is not automatically better. Where it is going matters more.

A tall arrangement on a small kitchen table is a nuisance. A small posy in a big entryway disappears. If it is going to a workplace, remember they have to carry it to the car - a compact vase arrangement travels far better than something three feet tall.

Our honest recommendation for most birthdays: a medium arrangement in its own container, low enough to sit on a table and be seen over.

Flowers with a bit of personality

If you want the arrangement to feel like a choice rather than a default, ask for one of these as the star:

• Sunflowers - cheerful, sturdy, impossible to dislike. Excellent in Bakersfield heat.
• Gerbera daisies - pure colour and a bit playful.
• Stock - smells wonderful, which people always comment on.
• Snapdragons - height and movement, so the arrangement does not look like a dome.
• Garden roses - if you want to spend a little more and have it show.
• Dahlias in late summer - genuinely spectacular for a few months of the year.

And one to skip unless you know: heavily scented oriental lilies. Beautiful, but a strong scent in a small apartment is not to everybody's taste.

What to write on the card

The card is the part people keep. Short and specific beats long and general:

• "Happy birthday. Hope it is a good one."
• "Another year of putting up with me. Happy birthday."
• "Thinking of you today. Have a wonderful birthday."
• "Happy birthday from all of us at the office."

Sign it with the name they will recognise instantly. If you are ordering online, there is a message box at checkout and we hand-write what you type.

Add-ons that are actually worth it

We keep a small boutique in the shop, so you can put something alongside the flowers rather than sending flowers alone:

• A Tyler candle - the one people ask us about most
• A balloon, if there are children in the house
• A houseplant instead of cut flowers, for someone who would rather keep it
• Chocolates, which sounds obvious and is still the right answer surprisingly often

Timing

Order by 12pm and we deliver the same afternoon across Bakersfield and out to Shafter. If the birthday is at a workplace, aim for the morning - flowers that arrive at 4:45pm get carried straight to the car instead of sitting on a desk all day where everyone can see them.

If you are the sort of person who remembers birthdays two days late, that is fine. Nobody has ever minded flowers arriving on a Tuesday.

Or just tell us about them

The best birthday orders we build start with a sentence like "she is 60, she loves the garden, and she thinks roses are boring." Give us that and let us do the rest.

Call (661) 588-7997 or order online. Designer's Choice is genuinely the best value on our menu if you would rather leave it to us.