Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Indoor plants

Choosing the best flower delivery service: What you need to know

Kiera Baron
By

Monthly flower subscriptions bring unique flower arrangements into your home with ease. With so many choices out there, it’s hard to know which one is the best flower-subscription service for you. We’ve compared a few of the higher-rated services below, providing pros and cons of each along with real reviews from customers to show that picking the best flower-subscription service isn’t as easy as looking at the rating.

Flower arrangement in blue vase
五玄土 ORIENTO/Unsplash

BloomsyBox

BloomsyBox has a 4.4-star average subscriber rating on Cratejoy. Its monthly flower-subscription service specializes in roses. The flowers are sourced directly from farms worldwide, and BloomsyBox recognizes different flowers require their own care, so it includes a card with your arrangement that details specific care instructions.

Recommended Videos

Pros

Someone who has subscribed to BloomsyBox for one year said, “Every box we receive from BloomsyBox is beautiful, unique, and full of wonderful color!! I cannot thank BloomsyBox enough for their consistently amazing product, and consistently wonderful customer service!”

Related

BloomsyBox offers weekly, biweekly, and monthly plan options, allowing you to choose the one that best fits your needs. It specializes in roses, and its farm-fresh flowers allow the brand to create a variety of unique arrangements for each of its subscription options.

Cons

Someone who subscribed for four months said, “I was auto-charged an additional three months after I purchased a Mother’s Day gift! When I called for a refund, the customer service was not helpful and refused to issue a refund. My mother said the flowers only lasted a couple days once she received them and were not in good shape. I am disappointed with the quality and service.”

Customer-service experiences seem to vary from person to person, and sometimes the blooms show up underwhelming or in poor shape. As with any live plant, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee beautiful plants on arrival. That’s why it’s important to read at least two pages of reviews, if you can, to see how isolated the incidents are.

Heart & Thorn

Heart & Thorn has a 3.5-star rating based on customer reviews and 18 different plant and flower subscriptions to choose from. It specializes in one-of-a-kind arrangements that include both plants and flowers, which it delivers directly to your door. Heart & Thorn prides themselves on fresh arrangements with charming colors, making them beautiful in every space.

Pros

A verified customer wrote, “I sent this to my boss, out of state, for his birthday. I customized the contents but I really had no idea what it would look like. He called me twice … once to say thank you and then again later in the day to exclaim how it was the best gift basket he had ever seen. He said usually he’d get a basket like it and there are several things you toss away, but he said every single item was something he would enjoy.”

The biggest pro here is that Heart & Thorn will deliver out of state. Not only does it appear to follow through with the praise of its services, but this review tells you that what it delivers can leave a lasting impression on the recipient.

Cons

Heart & Thorn’s biggest issues appear to be poor customer service, unequal substitution, and inconsistent shipping.

One verified customer wrote, “I ordered 2 bottles of vintage wine and what got delivered … a packet of Doritos, [some] Nutella, cracker chips, and two other ‘snack items’ … The cost of shipping was U.S. $29.99, which again is extortionate for this type of product particularly when it was actually made up and delivered by a local delivery company! … My complaint has gone unanswered.”

It’s important to note, too, that the 5-star reviews are flooded with bad experiences. When choosing the best flower-subscription service, it’s important to read as many reviews as you can. Don’t always trust the front page that’s designed to make the service as beautiful as possible, and try to look at more than one page of reviews.

A flower arrangement in a jug
Free-Photos/Pixabay

Ode à la Rose

Ode à la Rose has a 4.5-star rating on Yelp. It creates bouquets from only the freshest flowers and delivering them in a lovely gift box. Its flowers do their best to ensure that both customers and recipients are fully happy, and it offers same-day delivery in New York City and Chicago (and next-day delivery to most of the Northeast).

Pros

One reviewer wrote, “AMAZING flowers and customer service … I mistakenly wrote a typo in my mother’s address when ordering. I emailed customer service the day the flowers were going out for delivery and heard back in only an hour from Jeff. He was so prompt with contacting the drivers to make sure the flowers made it to the correct address, and they did!”

The customer service at Ode à la Rose appears to be extremely helpful in tight situations, especially on the day the flowers will be delivered (as long as you’re doing same-day delivery). It could vary depending on what type of delivery you need.

Cons

Another reviewer wrote, “On their order status page, it said that the flowers had been delivered in the morning. I live in a luxury building with a doorman. I’ve been checking ALL DAY for these, and the flowers still aren’t here … The s/o emailed earlier in the day, and the only response we got was that ‘they have been delivered.’ They don’t even bother to provide a tracking #.”

Its order status and delivery system appears to be less than helpful, and you might not have luck reaching them if there’s a high demand for the attention of its customer service. The contrast between the two experiences is one had emailed, and one had called, so it may be that you’ll have more luck getting through to Ode à la Rose via email.

The takeaways? Even the higher-rated services can slip up from time to time. No monthly flower-subscription service is perfect. Experiences vary from person to person, and since the customer service teams are human, you may get different results depending on who’s working or who takes your call. Shipping live plants/flowers is always risky, so choosing the best one for you will depend on what you want out of your subscription service and how consistent negative reviews are.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kiera Baron
Kiera Baron
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kiera Baron is a freelance writer and editor, as well as a budding digital artist, based in Upstate NY. She is currently one…
How are Italian parsley and curly parsley different? Here’s what we know
Fresh sprigs of flat leaf parsley

Italian parsley, also known as flat-leaf parsley, is one of the main varieties of the herb that’s used in cooking. The other is curly parsley (which has ruffled leaves). Both have been used over the years for seasoning and garnishing an array of dishes from different cuisines. But how alike are they? At one point in time, parsley was akin to fine dining; now, it’s in almost every household, sitting nicely in an herb rack. Choosing whether to use Italian parsley or curly parsley can be a bit confusing when you’re growing and cooking at home, but ultimately boils down to the type of dish you’ll be making.

The two are easily confused — why?
The main confusion over which is which has to do with the name. They’re both varieties of parsley, so to the untrained eye it doesn’t seem like they would taste different or have different uses when you’re trying to pick one out in the store. Parsley is parsley, right? But even though these two are in the same family (cousins, in fact), they can’t always be used interchangeably.
They’ve got some differences
Surprisingly, even though the two are commonly confused for each other, the biggest difference is their appearance. Italian parsley sports flatter leaves (similar to cilantro) that are more of a dull green in color. Comparatively, curly parsley has ruffled leaves and a brighter, more vibrant color. The coloring is what makes curly parsley more of a go-to for garnishes. It isn’t intended to be eaten, but it enhances the appearance of a dish whereas Italian parsley is often used to enhance the flavor.
Do they taste the same?
Not quite. The reason why Italian parsley is reached for as a seasoning rather than a garnish is that it has a more robust flavor than it’s curly-leafed cousin. Italian parsley has a smoother texture, which adds to its palatability. Curly parsley is said to have little to no flavor, mostly used for its aroma and bright colors to bring life to a dish; however, depending on the growing conditions, age of the plant, and kind of soil used, the flavor can be more apparent. Even so, curly parsley will never be a one-to-one substitution for Italian parsley — and vice versa.
The best uses for Italian parsley
Italian parsley is — you guessed it — used to flavor a lot of Italian dishes like pastas. It’s used alongside other seasonings like basil and oregano and mixed into sauces to help enhance the flavor. Part of the lean toward Italian parsley is the smooth flavor (no one wants to be eating pasta and suddenly get a mouthful of a rough herb).

Read more
What you need to know about caring for the unusual kangaroo paw plant
Beautiful kangaroo paw flowers

Kangaroo paw plants are native to Australia, spanning 11 species and some subspecies that are grown by gardeners around the world. Depending on the variety, their flowers can be orange, purple, yellow, or red, with petals covered in velvety fuzz that resemble the paw of one of Australia’s most beloved animals. The kangaroo paw’s size can vary from species to species (especially in dwarf varieties), but in general, a mature kangaroo paw plant can be anywhere from two to ten feet tall and up to two feet across.

Kangaroo paw plant care is relatively simple. As long as you meet the requirements, you should have no trouble growing yours to maturity and getting it to bloom.

Read more
How are chives and green onions different? Everything you need to know
Chopped green onions on a cutting board

Green onions and chives are two ingredients that are commonly confused for each other. But why? They’re very similar in shape and color, so much so that it’s easy to think chives are just green onions that haven’t reached maturity. They are, however, different plants with some uses being better than others.

Chives
Chives are herbs. Part of the resemblance and comparison they have to green onions comes from the fact that they're related; however, when you purchase chives, you’ll notice that you never see the bulbs—only the stems. Their green stems are most often used for garnishes, for flavoring dishes that have been cooked, and for mixing into dips and spreads.
Why you shouldn’t cook your chives
Unless they’re dried, you should avoid cooking your chives (at least for long periods). They’re delicate herbs, and their flavor is best-presented when raw or minimally cooked. When cooked too long, the chives wilt and lose their flavor. Cooking chives also creates an unappealing texture. As fresh herbs, chives are best used when they can garnish a dish or are mixed into meals like salads.
What if you don’t have any green onions?
Due to the relation, chives can be used to substitute green onions in some circumstances; however, they do have a weaker flavor, so you won’t be able to do a one-to-one substitution. Although you could cook them into a dish where green onions are needed, you’ll be better off substituting chives when the recipe calls for a fresh green onion/scallion garnish.
Where chives shine the most
Because chives are best used raw or gently cooked, you should lean toward recipes that focus on chive garnishes or uncooked ingredients (such as dips). This tomato toast with chives recipe calls for a sprinkling of the herb once the dish has been prepared. The mild onion flavor from the chives will lightly enhance the toast, and you’ll get a crisp texture due to the fact that they’re fresh.

Read more