Flowers for a man in London: a thank-you bouquet that lasts
The grid's Bouquet of Chrysanthemums and Dianthus "Airy" rests on chrysanthemum, which stands two to three weeks in a vase against about a week for a rose, so a thank-you bouquet for a man in London outlasts the day it arrives. The choice here comes down to how long the flowers last and where the bouquet needs to go, not to which colours count as masculine or feminine.
Which flowers work as a thank-you for a man
Two bouquets in the grid put protea front and centre: Protea Bouquet "Queen" and Bouquet with Protea and "Eleonora" Roses. The Bouquet of 15 Red and White Roses gives another route in, and a rose usually stands about a week, sometimes closer to ten days. Chrysanthemum works differently: it lasts two to three weeks in a vase, so it is still fresh once the roses beside it have faded. Its leaves yellow before the flower does, and they are simply removed, without touching the bloom itself.
Several other bouquets are named for their look rather than for a fixed set of flowers: Blue Field, Pistachio, Lavender Bouquet and Bridge Bouquet. They all sit in the wider flowers for loved ones range, worth a look if the occasion calls for something less literal than a straight thank-you.
The grid also lists 15 Lilies, a bouquet built around a single flower rather than a mix. Lily pollen leaves a stain on fabric that is hard to lift once it has set, so once a bloom opens, the anthers are best removed with tweezers or fingers before a sleeve brushes against them. If pollen has already landed on a shirt, sticky tape lifts it off; rubbing only pushes it deeper into the fibres.
Every part of a lily, including the pollen and even the water left standing in the vase, is toxic to cats. Where a cat lives in the house, lilies are not the safer pick, and one of the other bouquets in the range is worth choosing instead.
Sending flowers to a man at home or at the office
An office delivery needs the company name and the floor. Where the building runs a pass system, the courier leaves the bouquet at reception, and the sender is told who signed for it. Nobody rings the recipient ahead of the visit unless the sender has asked for that call, so the bouquet still arrives as a surprise.
The card costs nothing extra, and it can carry a signed message or stay anonymous: the courier only ever knows the recipient's name and address, never who sent the flowers or why. An address helps but is not essential either, since a phone number is enough for the courier to find the recipient.
Before the courier sets off, a photo of the finished bouquet goes to the sender, a last look at it before delivery. Most orders are handed over the same day they are placed; the exact window is shown on the bouquet's own page, with more detail on the delivery page.
A good place to start is the flower itself: roses for the classic route, flowers in boxes for a desk with nowhere to put a vase, and mono bouquets where one flower, kept simple, says enough on its own.