Roses in New Jersey

Roses in New Jersey: flown in at two peaks, chosen by colour and size

In the US, about half of annual rose shipments move through two peaks, before 14 February and before Mother's Day, and roses in New Jersey follow that same route. Most of it arrives as Colombian and Ecuadorian stems flown through Miami, and because these roses are available year-round, the choice starts with colour and size rather than the season.

Two shipping peaks a year: where New Jersey's roses come from

The route behind a New Jersey rose usually runs through Florida first. In the Valentine's season of 2018, close to nine in ten of the cut flowers flown into the US passed through Miami's airport. About three-quarters came from Colombia and under a fifth from Ecuador. The stems travel in planes kept at one to two degrees. Colombia ships roughly one and a half billion stems a year, Ecuador around a billion, and the catalogue names its Ecuadorian stock directly, as in the 19 White Ecuadorian Roses. New Jersey does grow roses of its own, but the place to see them is Colonial Park in Somerset at its early-June peak, a garden worth a visit rather than a source for any bouquet. Demand climbs several times over around 14 February and Mother's Day, so it helps to check the guide to flowers in New Jersey for how far ahead an order should go in.

Red for the fourteenth, raspberry or white for the months between

Colour follows the calendar before anything else gets decided. In the US, 83% of the flowers bought for 14 February in 2022 were roses, and 65% of those were red. Any other date opens the whole range to the recipient instead of the calendar. Raspberry stems suit a birthday or a thank-you better than red does, and a bouquet that mixes white with pink in one hand-tied bunch works for a new baby or a quieter kind of visit. Both sit in their own part of the catalogue, next to every other shade on offer, so red really only has one fixed date to itself each year.

A table bouquet or a showpiece: sizing roses to the room

Size in a rose bouquet comes down to two separate decisions. How full it looks on a table depends on the stem count, while whether it sits low among other things or stands on its own depends on choosing by stem height. The 25 Dutch White Roses show what one particular stem count looks like once it's gathered into a single bunch. Where a bouquet needs to be the first thing a room notices, rather than one part of a table setting, a giant bouquet is built for exactly that job. Through a New Jersey winter, keep the vase away from radiators, direct sun and ripe fruit, since indoor heating shortens how long the stems last.

Rose delivery in New Jersey, as a mix or roses alone

A rose bouquet for delivery in New Jersey doesn't have to be roses on their own. The catalogue's mixed rose bouquets set roses alongside lisianthus or hyacinths, while peony-shaped roses stay in the section built around their shape instead of the mix. Every bouquet is put together once the order is placed, and it's photographed before the courier sets off. A card goes in free of charge, and a phone number is enough to send one; no street address is required. Most orders go out the same day they're placed, and the exact window for each bouquet shows on its own page. Delivery in the centre costs nothing, while the other delivery zones carry a flat rate added before payment.

Start with roses by colour if the occasion has already set its tone, or with by the number of stems if you already know how full the table needs to look. For a gift meant to be the biggest thing in the room, go straight to the giant rose bouquets.