Flowers in Boxes in Miami

Flowers in boxes in Miami: wet foam and a lid for the storm months

Miami's hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, peaking from August to October; in those storm months, the useful part is that flowers in boxes in Miami stand in wet foam and need no vase. The arrangement goes indoors in one piece, lid included, leaving two real questions: what fills the box, and which shape suits the person who receives it. The city's climate and its role in the flower trade are covered on the flowers in Miami page.

Roses off the cargo flights, peonies and hydrangea: what fills a Miami box

The base of most flowers in boxes in Miami is the rose. Colombia and Ecuador together supply about 86 per cent of the flowers flown into the United States, and roughly nine in ten of that import lands through Miami's own airport before it reaches a florist's bench.

Jumilia is the showiest pick on offer: a bloom up to seven centimetres across, white at the base and edged in pink. A French rose is not a variety but a florist's trick, each outer petal turned back by hand to open the flower wider than it would open on its own; choose it where a fuller, looser head matters more than where the stem came from.

Peonies get a section of their own in Miami, and a box suits them just as well: see the full range of peonies before picking one for a box. Hydrangea and lisianthus fill out the space under the lid, and hydrangea drinks more than most cut flowers, which is why the foam under a boxed arrangement is watered across its whole surface every day.

Lid, handles, jute or macarons: matching the box to who gets it

A hat box with its own lid needs nothing else: it goes straight onto a table or a counter exactly as it arrives. A box built with handles suits a recipient who will carry the flowers on somewhere else, to work or to dinner, since the handles are made for that.

A jute pot, a crate and a hanging basket are shapes meant to be set down or hung wherever they're carried, rather than unwrapped into a vase. Where the gift should come with something to eat alongside the flowers, a box of macarons pairs the two in one delivery.

In Miami, sympathy arrangements usually go straight to the family's home, and they run small to medium, which is exactly the size a box holds well. At a Jewish funeral or during shiva, flowers are not customary, and where the family has asked for donations instead of flowers, that request is worth honouring rather than sending a box regardless.

No vase, no tilting: keeping a boxed arrangement fresh in Miami

A boxed arrangement needs no vase on arrival: the foam already holds enough water, and the box only asks that it isn't tipped on the way in, so the water stays where the stems can reach it. That makes a box a steady choice through the storm months, when a short dash from car to door still matters. Delivery across Miami and its zones, including made-to-order boxes photographed before dispatch, is covered on the delivery page; for a hotel, give the surname the guest checked in under and the room number if known.

For a first box in Miami, start with the hat boxes if the destination is a table that won't move, or a flowers in a handbag arrangement for someone who'll carry it on somewhere else. The jute pots suit a spot where the arrangement simply stays put, and the macarons in boxes add something sweet alongside the flowers.