Birthday

Yes, if the order is in by 1 PM on a day we are open. We are open Monday through Friday from 9 to 3 and Saturday from 9 to 1, and we are closed Sunday. Orders placed after the cutoff go out the next morning we are open.

If the birthday falls on a Sunday, the usual move is to deliver Saturday so the flowers are already there when they wake up. If Sunday itself is the only day that works, call the shop and ask instead of guessing from the website. We have made it work before.

Wilmington is our own town and we are in it all day. Beyond that we run regular routes here:

• Tewksbury
• Billerica
• North Reading
• Reading
• Woburn
• Burlington
• Winchester
• Stoneham
• Wakefield
• Andover
• North Andover
• Lowell
• Chelmsford
• Methuen
• Lawrence

If the address sits just outside that list, call before you assume we cannot get there. Half the time we already have a stop nearby that day.

Gerbera daisies and sunflowers read as happy from across a room, which is what you want if the arrangement is going to sit on a reception desk or a kitchen island where people walk past it. Lilies are the pick if you want the gift to keep changing: they arrive mostly closed and open over about a week, so day five looks different from day one.

Roses read as romantic whether you meant them to or not. For a friend, a coworker or an aunt, we will usually steer you toward a mixed design with roses in it rather than a straight dozen red.

If you want something that is still alive in a month instead, a green or blooming plant is the better buy.

Tell us the number and we will build to it. The thing people order most here is our designer's choice: you set the budget, and the designer uses whatever came in freshest that morning. You get more flower for the money that way, because we are not forcing a recipe that needs one specific stem we had to bring in special.

The other honest answer is that size matters less than where it lands. A small, tight, well made arrangement on a desk beats a big loose one that nobody has a vase tall enough for.

Yes, and the detail you give us is what decides whether it actually reaches the person. Offices are the easy one, we leave it at the front desk with the name on the card.

For a school, a hospital or a nursing home, give us the recipient's full name plus a department, floor or room number if you have one. A front desk will not accept a delivery it cannot match to a person, and we would rather ask you now than stand in a lobby calling you.

For a house with nobody home, we leave it in a shaded, out of the way spot and let the number on the order know it is there. If it is over 85 degrees or below freezing we hold it and come back instead of leaving flowers on a step to die. Sending to someone in the hospital is its own thing, and our get well flowers are built for rooms with less space than you would think.

Call, do not fill out a form. 978-988-0044 gets you a person during store hours, and in about a minute we can tell you whether today is still possible for that address. A form cannot do that.

If today is gone, two things still work. We can deliver first thing the next morning we are open. Or you can order for pickup and have it ready in roughly an hour at 52 Main Street, which is the fastest option that exists.

Most of the big flower websites do not have a shop. They take your order, keep a cut of it, and forward what is left to whichever florist in the area will accept the job. You never find out which shop that was, and the arrangement that shows up is whatever that shop decided to make with the money that reached them.

We are the shop. The design is made here, the delivery is ours, and if something is wrong you are talking to the person who made it. That is also why the photos on this page are worth more trust than a stock catalog.

For mom. Softer palette, garden style, and height that does not block the table. Pale pink, cream, peach and a little lavender. If she keeps plants on every windowsill, a plant will mean more to her than cut flowers.

For her. If it is romantic, say so when you order and we will design it that way. If it is a friend, bright and mixed is the safer read.

For him. Men get sent flowers far less often, which is exactly why it lands. Go structural instead of frilly: sunflowers, protea, orchids, something with a strong line and darker tones. Skip the pastels and skip the bow.

If the date is an anniversary rather than a birthday, start with our anniversary flowers instead. Different design, same cutoff.