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Flower baskets in Barcelona: roses and lilies, never the 1 November flower
In Spain the chrysanthemum belongs to the dead: it travels to the cemetery on Tots Sants, the first of November, and nobody hands it to someone living. Flower baskets in Barcelona, as a result, are built for the happy occasions instead, from roses, lilies and daisies, and the choice begins with the flower itself.
Ecuadorian roses by the fifty or the hundred, white or red
The largest baskets here hold fifty-one or one hundred and one Ecuadorian rose stems, arranged as "51 Ecuadorian Roses in a Basket" or "101 White Ecuadorian Roses in a Basket". Ecuador is not where most Barcelona roses come from: Mercabarna-flor's forecast for Sant Jordi puts Colombia at eighty per cent of the flow and Ecuador at fifteen. An Ecuadorian stem here is a choice a florist or a customer makes, not the market's default.
White or red is a question for the recipient; a look through baskets by colour shows both ends of that choice side by side. The biggest basket in the range is built from red roses described as French, though the word names a technique rather than a variety: the florist turns the outer petals back by hand. Either way, a rose in a basket lasts about a week before the first petals drop.
Lilies, daisies or a designer mix when the rose is not the point
A basket built on lilies by the fifty carries no rose at all, and the lily asks for one piece of housekeeping the others do not. Once the flower opens, the anthers are best removed with fingers or tweezers, since their pollen stains fabric. Lilies are also toxic to cats, so a basket for a home with a cat is better built on something else.
Daisies make a modest, unshowy basket, the kind that suits a visit rather than a declaration. Where no single flower fits, a designer basket leaves the mix to the florist; baskets by flower type is where that range is easiest to see. The chrysanthemum stays out of every one of them, for the same reason it never reaches a birthday table in Barcelona.
Flower basket delivery in Barcelona: carried by the handle, no vase
Every basket starts as a wicker frame lined with a waterproof sheet. The florist floats a block of dry floral foam on water poured into the liner, and the foam sinks on its own as it soaks it up. The stems then stand in that wet foam, so no vase is needed at either end of the delivery.
Keeping it going at home takes one habit: water the foam every day, over its whole visible surface, with a thin stream rather than a jug tipped sideways, and never tilt the basket to check the water underneath. The arrangement ages as one piece, and whichever flower in it is the shortest-lived sets how long the rest looks its best.
A bento cake named "Happy Birthday" or a box of chocolates can travel in the same order as the basket, and a card goes in free of charge. The basket itself is put together after payment, and the florist photographs it before the courier leaves. Most orders reach their address the same day they are placed; deliveries inside the centre cost nothing, and the exact window for any given basket shows on its own page. Full terms are on Delivery.
Choosing where to start is simpler by category. Sweets and gifts covers a cake or chocolates alongside the flowers, and a basket with a cake or chocolates fits when that pairing is the whole point. For the same flower without the handle and the foam, there are rose bouquets.