51 Roses in Bali

51 roses in Bali: what to check at the gate, after a long drive

Turn it. The dome should keep its shape from any side, and a bunch with one good face was built to be photographed from a single angle.

That check matters more here than in a city with short deliveries. Seminyak, Canggu and Sanur come in at 90 to 150 minutes, while Uluwatu, Tabanan and remote villas run up to 3 to 4 hours. A bundle that has spent an afternoon in a vehicle shows whatever it was going to show.

Nusa Dua and Berawa sit in between. The drive is short enough that a bunch arrives close to the way it left, which makes any fault easier to attribute to the bench than to the road.

The catalogue starts at 650000 IDR, and payment goes through QRIS, GoPay, OVO, DANA or cash to the courier.

"We ask people to look at the bunch while the courier is still standing there. After the gate closes there is nothing anyone can do about a build."

— JFLOO florist

• Run a finger down the binding point: it should be firm without cutting into the stems.
• Look at the cut ends together, which should be roughly level, pale and freshly cut.
• Check the outline from above for gaps filled with foliage instead of flowers.

Weight, and why it surprises people

Fifty-one thick stems with wet ends and a paper collar are heavy enough that most recipients change hands within a minute of taking them. A courier will usually carry the bunch against the body rather than out in front.

That weight is the reason we ask about the last stretch. A villa gate, a garden path and steps up to a terrace are a different proposition with fifty-one stems in two arms. Above 30 °C and in high humidity we use firm wrapping and a cooling element, which adds a little more again.

Height is part of the same problem. A long cut carries the weight further from the hand, and on fifty-one stems that leverage is what makes people set the bunch down before they have decided where it goes.

The rains, and what they do to the check

The rainy season runs November to March. In those months the last few metres are wet. Paper softens on the way in, and a collar that has lost its shape hides the outline you were meant to be checking. A box crosses that stretch better. It also lets the check happen indoors, with the bunch standing on a floor instead of in somebody's arms.

Villas are where the check gets skipped most often. The courier is at a gate, the recipient is halfway through an evening, and nobody wants to stand in a garden turning a bouquet. Agreeing beforehand that the bunch comes indoors first solves that in one sentence.

Deliveries run from 9 AM to 10 PM.

An ocean villa and a wedding venue in Jimbaran end the same way for this count. Somebody puts the bunch into water within the hour, or nobody does. The check at the gate tells you which of those is about to happen.

None of this can be repaired at home. A bunch that was graded and spiralled well still looks built on day five, and one that was thrown together does not improve however often the water is changed.

Ordering 51 roses in Bali for a villa in Uluwatu or a dinner in Ubud, ask for a photograph from above before the van leaves. On a 3 to 4 hour run that picture is the only version of the check that happens while anything can still be changed. Everything after it is a matter of where the bunch stands and how often it drinks.