So, there was a ton of great advice given and I realized with each new post what a shitty job I did writing the OP.
Orchids are a thought, but she has a lot of them and wants specific rare ones. The yearly Pittsburgh orchid show is next weekend; she’ll be going.
Succulents would be cool, but she has a ton of succulents already. She takes cuttings, roots them, uses them in arrangements, and even makes wreaths from compacted sphagnum planted with succulents.
I ended up visiting Cuttings in Sewickely after work on Friday (thanks Nayna!).
I told the nice lady there my story and it turned out she has met my gf at one of the Phipps Conservatory classes! I told her I wanted to send something that would blow my gf away and make me look good. She showed me pictures of a monster bouquet that she could deliver. It was amazing!!
I told her it’d be perfect. Then she showed me the price. I did an excellent job of not making an eek face (:eek:); I just gave her my credit card and paid up.
My mother is Catalan, and there it is customary to give your loved ones red roses for St George’s. That drives the prices to stratospheric levels all over Spain for a couple of weeks.
Dad loved brightly colored flowers - his idea of “pretty!” would involve at least half a dozen different species, including at the very least red roses (or carnations) and purple lilies. White was for pansies and shirts, in Dad’s world (actually, he wouldn’t have minded some pansies… just not white ones).
Mom likes white or yellow flowers.
For over 30 years, her St George’s bouquet would be pale roses (if he’d been able to find them), or carnations if no pale roses had been available.
In the end, the answer to “how to say I love you” is “in a way your beloved understands”.
I’m looking forward to hearing about her reaction. And just to satisfy my curiosity, can you post a photo of the bouquet and let us know what it cost? I tried to buy a nice one for my parents fiftieth wedding anniversary and was disappointed at what $150 bought me. (And that was several times what I’d ever spent on flowers.)
Well, it looks like I did the right thing. The flowers arrived and housekeeping had to bring a table for them, as there wasn’t room on her desk. Many of my gf’s new coworkers were coworkers of hers in the past, and I know them from parties and on Facebook.
I heard from her friends that she came out of a meeting and, on seeing the flowers and reading the card, she actually had some tears! She put a picture on Facebook and i received a ton of props. A coworker’s husband sent me a text message that I’d made him look bad.
Dewey Finn: when I saw the picture I was kind of nonplussed. She told me that each flower was perfect, and she was impressed, which is what matters. The total, with delivery and tax was a bit over $150.
OK, that’s nice enough, but $150 worth? It’s about the same size and level of complexity as the $150 bouquet I bought for my parents fiftieth wedding anniversary a few years ago. I don’t see that much difference between that and the thirty-dollar arrangements at the supermarket, but then I’m no professional.
But it sounds like your girlfriend appreciated it, which is the important thing.
