A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose—or Is It? - assessing various floral companies that take orders over the Internet for Valentine's Day; includes related article on ordering for 1999 when Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Feb, 1999 by Elizabeth Razzi, Ian Baldwin

The flower stems were pushed into a moist foam cube and the box included two reusable cold packs. But the message from the sender was printed on the inside of a flier with the florist's logo and "800" number--hardly the stuff of romance.

Flowerstop.com

Most expensive ... and most frequently mistaken for the cheap street-vendor flowers.

Freshflowersource.com

Very long stems with deep, red blossoms. As romantic as you can hope for from a FedEx box.

1-800-Flowers.com

Nicest arrangement--but bad timing, and the flowers started to wilt by the second day.

Proflowers.com

Fresh blossoms at the cheapest price. But they arrived a day late. Get your excuses ready!

RELATED ARTICLE: GETTING THEM THERE IN TIME

VALENTINE'S DAY falls on a Sunday this year, making the timing of online orders more problematic than usual. Unless a Web site contracts with local florists (as 1-800-Flowers.com often does), it uses Federal Express to ship the flowers. Online florists are trying to line up options for special Sunday deliveries, but you can expect to pay $10 or so extra--if the service is available. With FedEx deliveries, Saturdays usually cost more, too (up to $10), and Monday deliveries aren't always available.

Place your order early--the Monday or Tuesday before Valentine's Day--for the best crack at the rose color of your choice. In fact, sites are likely to quit taking orders guaranteed for holiday delivery several days ahead of the big day.

Some florists expect demand for roses to be a bit lower this year because Valentine's Day falls on a weekend, when couples are more likely to celebrate with a night on the town rather than roses delivered to the office.