Gifting Farmgirl 101

If you’re celebrating the maternal figure(s) in your life with Farmgirl this Mother’s Day, we’re here to make sure your thoughtful giving goes swimmingly. Here are a few of our tips for gifting Farmgirl in a short(ish) and sweet (fingers crossed!) FAQ format.
Psst - if we don’t answer your question in this FAQ, we’d love to help! You can write to us via our Contact Farmgirl page or message us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (@farmgirlflowers). Happy reading and Happy Mother’s Day!

When’s the best time to order for Mother’s Day?

Whether you’ve been shopping with us for years or are brand new to Farmgirl (hello and welcome!), Mother’s Day is our busiest (and we mean busiest) time of year and we sell out fast. So the best time to order is as soon as possible.

Does ordering early mean my flowers will be less-than-fresh?

Not at all. In fact, ordering your bouquet in advance is just like making a reservation at a hot new restaurant – even though you grabbed that coveted two top for Friday at 8 PM a month ago, the kitchen doesn’t actually fire your meal until you’re seated (but they did make sure they’d have enough food, silverware, tables, glassware, and front and back of house staff to accommodate you)! So even if we receive your order weeks in advance, we won’t design your bouquet until the day it’s shipped.

Which days are you delivering for Mother’s Day this year?

Good question! Although each arrangement has unique availability (that’s a combination of so many things that we devoted the next FAQ to it), in general, we deliver Monday through Friday. So for a weekend holiday like Mother’s Day, that means our last delivery window before the big day is Thursday, May 6th - Friday, May 7th. Providing there’s availability, we’ll take orders for that Thursday-Friday delivery window up until Wednesday, May 5th at 12 PM PST.
We’re also offering a very limited amount of Friday delivery on specific arrangements only but we’re already seeing that sell out.

Why do different products have different delivery availability?

Farmgirl operates from multiple distribution centers between California, Florida, and Ecuador, so while delivery availability has always been unique to each arrangement (because of things like flower availability, designer time, our shipping partners’ capacity, and more), this Mother’s Day it’s based on even more complicated logistical factors.
With that in mind, please note that if you see one arrangement available for delivery on Friday 5/7, for example, that does not mean that all of our arrangements will be available for delivery on that date, too.

What’s the best way to see what’s available?

If you have access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone head over to our Flower Shop and look around. Once something catches your eye, click on the pretty picture, enter the ship-to zip code in the little box at the top right, and then click on the calendar icon in the middle of the page to see all of the available delivery windows for that specific bouquet. Rinse and repeat to see when another arrangement could deliver!

If navigating to or on our webshop isn’t working for you, you can also chat, email, or call us and our lovely customer support team can help advise of availability.

What’s the best day to have Mother’s Day flowers delivered?

While we totally get the logic of wanting a delivery date as close to Sunday, May 9th as possible, we always advise choosing a delivery date a wee bit ahead of schedule. Why?
An ounce of prevention. Although shipping has started to stabilize, the peak activity we see during gifting heavy holidays like Mother’s Day can sometimes cause unpredictable transit delays with our shipping partners – especially during COVID. Although we don’t currently foresee anything like this happening, choosing an earlier delivery date (like Wednesday 5/5), gives you and our team time to make things right before the holiday should a shipping snafu occur.

Room to bloom. Early arrival is also an A+ maneuver because some flowers (peonies, tulips, irises, and ranunculus we’re looking at you) actually look their best one to three days post-delivery. So rack up allll the brownie points by surprising (ding!) them early (ding ding!) and having the flowers fully bloomed by the big day (ding ding ding!).

If I get delivery early in the week, how do I keep my flowers fresh until Mother’s Day on Sunday?

We thought you’d never ask. Here are a few of our favorite tricks!
Give them early. We don’t know about you (or your recipient), but we hate waiting and we love surprises, so we never mind a special delivery a couple of days or more ahead of schedule. Also, as we mentioned above, early delivery is a double treat with certain flower varieties (like peonies) that need time to bloom.

If early gifting isn’t in the cards, here’s what to do:

• Chop, chop! As soon as your Farmgirl box arrives (we’ll send you the UPS or FedEx tracking number so you’re notified as soon as they’re dropped at your doorstep) unbox your flowers and trim the stems. Why trim? Trimming helps your flowers hydrate efficiently and trust us, they’re going to be thirsty after their journey to your doorstep (just imagine how you’d feel after an overnight flight!). Wanna go for gold? Trim your stems at an angle (45˚ is perfect!) to ensure that they don’t sit flush with the bottom of the vase, which can prevent the flowers from absorbing the water they need to stay fresh and beautiful.
• Extra, extra! We carefully make, wrap, and ship each and every arrangement but sometimes, flowers are flowers! See a broken stem? Not to worry! We always ship one to a few extra stems (it depends on the arrangement) for these “just in case” situations. So once you trim and drop your stems into the vase, remove any broken or bruised blooms and rest assured you’re still getting the full stem count.
• Everything in its vase! Next, place your flowers in a vase full of cool tap water so they can get hydrating (and don’t forget to add the packet of flower food if it came in the box). Some quick #vasebasics while we’re on the subject, if your arrangement came with one, use it! If not, find one from your personal collection or get creative. We like to repurpose glass jars, glassware, pitchers, and other common kitchen items in a pinch. Whatever you use, just make sure the flowers can sit more or less upright in the vase (without toppling over the edge) and aren’t too crowded.
• Design 101. This step is optional, but flex your budding (see what we did there) design skills and get arranging! Here at Farmgirl, we love the look of staggering stem heights and going for a “v” shape that’s a bit higher on the left-hand side than the right.
  • If you ordered a designed arrangement, it will arrive in this configuration (and the stems should be taped or tied to keep the design in position). Just simply cut and release the tape or tie once you’ve trimmed the steps once the bouquet is situated in your vase.
  • If you didn’t order a designed arrangement, give it a shot! And if you’re in need of some arranging inspiration and/or how-to, we’ve got lots of design tutorials on our YouTube and Instagram. Check us out!
• Patience is the key! Rome wasn’t built in a day and any bouquet isn’t its most beautiful self right out of the box. Real talk - even when we take our website photos we have to follow all of these same steps to get the petals picture perfect. So trust us and trust this process – it works!
• Bloom, baby, bloom! We send most varieties out unbloomed or half-bloomed so after all of the aforementioned care tips and a bit of time (a couple of hours or a couple of days - it depends on the variety), your flowers will thank you by blooming. Enjoy!
• Get gifting. All of these care tips will hold your bouquet for up to a few days (or more depending on the arrangement) but get gifting on the sooner side so your recipient can enjoy their flowers for as long as possible.

Want more tips on caring for your cut flowers (or plants!)? We got you! Please visit https://www.farmgirlflowers.com/care.

Thanks for all the care tips but I’d rather wait until Mother’s Day to unwrap my flowers. Will they be OK in the box for a day or two?

The answer to this question depends on what you’re sending –
Gifting fresh flowers? Although we’ll send them out with everything they need for the journey to your doorstep, it’s best practice to get fresh-cut flowers hydrating as soon as possible. So for that reason, we don’t typically recommend keeping your flowers in their box any longer than they absolutely need to be.
However, we understand that many of you prefer to leave the unboxing to your recipient. If you’re in this situation, then our best advice depends on timing:

• If you’re planning on gifting a couple of hours after delivery (e.g. your flowers were delivered in the AM and you’re gifting in the PM), you can be reasonably sure your flowers will be ok in the box. Just make sure to store them in a cool, dark place (we like basements, closets, or unused bathrooms) and gift them ASAP for freshness’ sake!
• If you’re planning on gifting more than a few hours after delivery, follow all of the instructions in the question above but add the two following steps:
  • Save the wrapping! Save the wrap, the box, the ribbon, and whatever other trimmings and trappings you’d like your recipient to unwrap. Pro tip: Take pictures as you unwrap post-delivery so you can rewrap and box the bouquet just the way it came.
  • Keep it cool. Once you have your bouquet hydrating in a vase (either the one it came in or one from your personal collection), find a cool, dark place in your home (again, we like basements, closets, or unused bathrooms) and stash your bouquet there for safekeeping until you’re ready to gift.

If you’re gifting a preserved arrangement, time is on your side! Although it may need a little zhushing after unboxing (like a t-shirt or a pair of jeans packed for shipping, they have a little bit of structural memory), feel free to keep it in the box as long as you need. Preserved arrangements don’t need water (or much else) took look their best and last.

Sending a plant? Although chlorophyllic companions thrive on bright, indirect light and water, they can withstand a little extra time in the box. Our best rec? Follow the fresh flower directions for saving the wrapping and care for the plant until it’s time to gift. Once you’re ready, rewrap and give!

I want to place an order but I’m worried about delivery delays.
We understand how incredibly frustrating delivery delays are and believe us - we’re just as frustrated as you are when this happens! We work hard to source top-quality flowers, design beautiful bouquets, and package them carefully, so we really hate it when a delay beyond our control goes and throws a wrench in the works!
That said, while we may not always be able to control the circumstances that occasionally prevent your flowers from being delivered to you on time, we always guarantee that we’ll make it right in the event that a delay happens. So don’t ever hesitate to reach out to us on our Contact Farmgirl page if you have a question or concern about an order. We’re happy to help.

If I reach out, when can I expect to hear back?
Our team’s biggest priority at all times is to respond to your calls, emails, DMs, and comments as soon as possible. However, Mother’s Day is our busiest time of the year and even though our team works ‘round the clock to get back to each of you, sometimes it may take us longer than we’d like to respond. If you’re waiting to hear from us, please know that we respond to every single request in as timely a manner as possible and are doing our very best to respond to your message. We appreciate your patience and we’ll be in touch very soon.

Thank you.

XX,
Team Farmgirl