To the Hospital in Seoul

Delivering flowers to a hospital: what to check before you order

Sending flowers to a ward is a logistics problem more than a floristry one. Building the bouquet is straightforward; getting it to a named bed inside an institution that runs on its own timetable and does not let couriers past reception is the hard part.

The courier stops at the desk

In almost every hospital the delivery ends at reception or at a nurses' station. From there the flowers are carried in by a relative or a member of staff, and that happens when someone has a free minute rather than immediately.

Two things follow. The arrangement has to survive being passed between people and half an hour standing on a counter. And the order needs a ward, a room and the name of someone who can sign — a patient's surname on its own leaves the courier stuck in a lobby.

Some wards accept nothing

Intensive care, high dependency, burns units and anything running a sterile regime do not accept flowers at all, and some hospitals ban live plants throughout the building. Visiting hours are the second constraint: a delivery after they close means the flowers wait at the desk until morning.

Both are answered by one phone call to the ward or one message to the family. Asking the courier at the door is too late.

What not to send

The restrictions here are tighter than for any other order:

• lilies, hyacinths, tuberose and anything strongly scented — in a small unventilated room the scent becomes oppressive, and for someone nauseated it is worse than that
• open lilies, which shed pollen that stains bedding permanently
• grasses and seed heads that drop onto sheets
• long stems, since no ward will produce a vase and the bouquet ends up lying wrapped on a windowsill.

What works

A hat box or a foam-lined container: water inside, a stable base, a small footprint. The bedside table already holds medication, a glass, a phone and a pair of glasses, and anything arriving has to fit beside all of it.

For flowers, chrysanthemum, carnation, alstroemeria, lisianthus, lightly scented roses and gerberas. They last without care and do not drop petals onto bedding.

For colour, yellow, peach, pale green and pink. A dense all-white sheaf reads as a funeral tribute to a lot of people; one warm accent removes that reading entirely.

Recovering at home

At home the constraints disappear: there is a vase, a tap and someone to help. Set a window when the recipient in Seoul will certainly be there — getting to the door is harder than usual for them.