Where I live now, there are a lot less opportunities for buying cut flowers. The main places seem to be either grocery stores, or florist shops, which aren't very prevalent. The quality at the grocery stores is sometimes lacking, and they can be pricey. When I lived back home, I would take the subway pretty much everywhere, and there would be a flower cart or full fledged florist stand at almost all of the main subway stops. Also, I worked downtown, so I was close to larger flower shops and carts, as well. The quality always seemed to be very fresh, and I liked that the variety was better than what I tend to see at the grocery stores here. I occasionally will buy flowers here, but the experience just isn't the same. Do y'all buy flowers? If so, where do you buy them, and do you feel you're getting a good deal?
I agree that flowers just don't seem to be the same quality when they're from grocery stores. That's pretty much the only option I seem to have here as well. I've found that the best way to get flowers cheaply from the supermarket however is to go at night when they're changing the stock around as they'll reduce the price of them quite a bit. I've been able to get flowers that were supposed to be £15 for around £3 before which was such a big saving that it didn't really bother me that the quality then wasn't quite as good as I''d have preferred to buy for £15 because I didn't pay that. Another way I like to get flowers more cheaply is after holidays like Valentine's Day where they'll sell off the stock they have left at a lower price. Of course that's not always the time that you want to buy flowers but it can be handy if that's the sort of time you do happen to want to!
That's a good idea about going late @cocolgooh, when they'll be swapping out the stock. I'll have to investigate and see what the best times are where I shop. It's more difficult to figure out things like that these days, when stores stay open later or even all night, in some cases. I mainly buy for myself these days, so after the holidays would be fine. When I lived back home, I'd sometimes splurge on flowers for my mom, and she also didn't care whether it was the actual holiday or before/after. My favorite is for no occasion at all, and I like splurging on a friend who needs a pick me up sometimes. In the summer, I have gardenias from my garden that I will bring to friends when I visit, and they smell amazing. I'm considering adding honeysuckle to my garden this year, since they're easy to grow, but I'll still want to purchase flowers occasionally, since I don't have a green thumb for anything but the easiest types to grow.
I don't usually like getting flowers. I find flowers from a florist so outrageously expensive that usually my husband pick me flowers from our garden. Last year he splurged and bought me a beautiful bouquet my birthday. I was so impressed at the quality of the flowers. There were mostly purple roses. When I asked where he got them he finally confessed that he had picked them up at Costco. They lasted for over 2 weeks and had a lovely smell. I think the dozen roses were under $15.
I have found cheap flowers at Aldi's that seemed to be pretty god quality. They are better than the ones I see at Walgreens that are usually dead looking. I have seen flowers at Costco but I just assumed they were expensive and i didn't look at the price. I'm going to have to check again because I intend to buy flowers for mother's day. Do you know if Costco ever discounts their flowers? Like at night or when they are going to switch them out?
I like some of the flowers that the grocery stores have and their prices. I bought some flowers for Christmas at Amazon, and even though the price was right, they weren't what I was expecting at all. I think it is helpful to be able to see flowers in person so you know exactly what you are getting. Unless, I read all the fine print, I wouldn;t order flowers online again.
