Flowers are hands down, beautiful and have been long a symbol of love, affection, and gratitude. Women naturally like gifts associated with these words and flowers are your best bets. Men are in luck because flowers do not just grow on soil today. They have actually managed to grow from boutiques, art stores, supermarkets, and bookstores!

Taking a trip to the mall can overwhelm one with brooches, ceramics, vases, bags, or even kitchen mixers all decorated and embellished with flowers. Surprise your lady with sugar cookies, soaps, and candles all shaped into flowers. Artists can also render a unique piece that can speak of your feelings and leave your woman breathless. Bookstores and supermarkets are my favorite modern flower growers because they house the most interesting forms of this popular gift! I just saw a lovely recyclable grocery bag printed with mod looking flowers next to the local produce. The gift-wrapping section is my favorite bookstore aisle because they have pretty wrappers and bows with slightly embossed flowers. How lovely is that?

My point is, whatever a woman says, do not just bite if she says she doesn’t like flowers. Do your research, pick on what interests her genuinely, and fuse in the floral element from there. It would be nice if you can actually shoot two birds with one stone: cast your message through flowers and captivate her with its immaculate and timeless beauty.

White flowers are your best bet in conveying the message above. Sent early in a relationship, white flowers say both “I miss you” and “you are perfect.” It also symbolizes innocence, purity, secrecy, reverence, perfection, humility, and silence. Anyone who is bound to receive white flowers will be genuinely flattered upon knowledge of its meaning.

If the recipient is not a fan or is allergic to plants, fret not because you still have a long list of options that you can perfectly match with her personality. Your former secretary will surely miss you back as soon as she gets a hold of a bone-china tea light holder set. It is a diminutive, luminous sculpture in its own right, and putting it to use is the perfect way to cap her long day in the office. A food lover will surely appreciate flower shaped sugar cookies glazed with white frosting. Quick fact: white is such a beautiful and show stopping color for accessories. Scarves beaded with flowers will definitely be mom’s favorite. Your new girlfriend would not feel threatened with ceramic hibiscus earrings. Pick these two in white and wait for their reports on how many complements they have received. If the budget is as high as the sky, send your geeky lover a new MP3 player protected with a  white cherry blossom skin. Whatever your gift is, do not forget to slip in a note saying what you miss about them. Reading something true either before of after your day’s just amazing.

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Tell your loved one that you miss her by surprising her a bunch of fresh white roses delivered right to her doorstep from Island Rose – Philippine Flower Delivery.

Today, flowers make wonderful presents for any occasion. They’re no longer just for the major holidays or birthdays. Giving flowers during special holidays is almost a given, for guys. But if you really want to score bonus points, try sending your special lady flowers for no special reason at all. It’s even better when she’s not expecting them.

One of the biggest gripes with sending flower arrangements as gifts is that they’re usually quite expensive. Flowers don’t come cheap and particularly around special holiday occasions such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Prices can double during these high demand seasonal periods the closer you get to those special holidays. It would be nice to be able to save money by waiting till it’s off peak, but sometimes you just can’t avoid the premium periods.

Flowers are expensive. But in the Philippines, buying and sending them doesn’t have to break the bank.

As the bearer of flowers, there are two main options – you can either 1) buy the flowers at a cheaper price at the grocery store or local florist shop, or 2) choose to order them online and have them delivered. Both options are good for different reasons. Buying flowers at your local supermarket is definitely the most cost effective way to go if you have the time to browse and choose, as well as personally deliver the gift. If you don’t have the time to visit or browse the store’s flower selection, or if the distance between you and the intended recipient is too prohibitive, you can choose to place the order through an online florist and have it conveniently delivered.  In most cases, online Philippine florists can deliver anywhere in the Philippines.

While you may be able to save time and effort by ordering online, it’s definitely going to cost a bit more. To give you an idea of what buying flowers online will cost you compared to buying them at your local Philippine flower shop: a dozen roses complete with a decorative vase at the supermarket will usually fetch about Php700-1200 on Valentine’s day; at a local florist they will usually go for a bit higher at around Php1400-2200; and online they will usually cost upwards of Php2400-3200 or more, although plenty of online flower deals, offers, and coupon codes abound. Another option is to buy them at side street vendors where flowers are frequently sold at great discounts or near wholesale prices. Places like Dangwa for instance offers a wide array of colorful but very affordably priced flower varieties – if you don’t mind doing a little bit of arranging yourself.

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Choose only high-quality flowers when sending a bunch to your loved ones. Visit Island Rose – Philippine Florist.

What would he think to do so that I’d be less furious? First that might come to mind were the timeless, tried and true methods: a handwritten note on the sweetest store-bought card, accompanied by a beribboned box of Belgian chocolate truffles or an adorable sad-eyed stuffed toy. He might have a vase of fresh blossoms delivered to my office. Or maybe a casual posy of my favorite flowers, if he remembered what they were; if he didn’t, there’s always the classic single long-stemmed rose.

Should he decide to get a little creative, he could design a handmade card, draw a rueful little cartoon, or paint an apology across a t-shirt. He could write a poem, perhaps a verse or two, put the words to music and sing it over the phone. Would he take me out for my favorite macchiato, the words Forgive Me scrawled on the plastic cup in place of my name?

Technology opens up possibilities. He could e-mail an mp3 of a song I’ve been stuck on. Upload a Bob Dylan-esque video with his words of contrition written on cue cards. Send an e-card, a gift, or virtual flowers to my social networking account, an animated MMS to my phone. But he better not spam me with forwarded trite messages.

In the end, I got the apology I most wanted without having to tell him. Early next morning I woke to the sound of a gentle tapping at my door. He stood outside with a paper-wrapped bouquet of flowers. He remembered that I loved dark pink roses. Handing me the flowers that surely must’ve been bought at daybreak from the fresh flower market all the way across town, he looked look deep into my eyes and said, “I’m sorry.”

I was in bloom.

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You can now order farm fresh roses delivered straight to your loved ones’ doorstep. Visit Island Rose – Philippine Flowers.

When we first met, our discussion stumbled upon what we believed to be greatest art works of all time. We went from Dali’s painting of “The Persistence of Memory”, Matisse’ “Flowers of St. Henri”, Cezanne’s painting of “Still Life” to American Pop-Culture portrait paintings. For a minute the artist’s name escaped both our memory banks. At that time we found it comical to forget, amongst others, the central figure of Pop-culture, household name to our generation. And just like in the movies, as if on-queue we blurted out his name in chorus, “Andy Warhol”.  That moment, sparks flew and the rest was history.

Although I have a strong love for the arts, I wouldn’t refer to myself as one. A geek, perhaps. Then a writer. But definitely, more of a city-dweller than an artist.

Many artists, burned by competitive relationships, cope by hooking up with non-artists, hoping for lower-drama relationships. The non-artists often act as dutiful spouse, fan-club president, and personal psychiatrist all rolled into one. They have to suffer through gig after gig, erratic and fleeting lifestyle, all the while wondering whether someday they’ll leave. Overall, the non-artists like me, say the trade-off is worth it. But only when both parties agree to let the artist get all the attention.

Dating an artist is like Oz, because the rules of the known universe don’t apply. There are surreal moments that would bring Dali himself back to life.

Simple holidays for instance, Valentine’s Day can be a real stretch of patience. Most artists boycott Valentine’s Day and don’t believe in giving flowers during this season. A common excuse is that it’s an evil scheme of commercialization. But let me paint you a picture of this in a non-artist woman’s perspective. Your special lady is at work, a bouquet of roses is suddenly delivered to her department. A delivery man walks towards her. Her heart raises but the roses pass her work area unto her workmates desk. She’s disappointed but shrugs it off because she knows her partner is not one for Valentines. She’s a hopeless romantic but convinces herself that it’s just a silly tradition. A few minutes after a second bouquet of flowers are brought in. She tries to ignore it, but as it approaches her desk her face begins to inch a giddy smile. Just as she raises her head however, she realizes it has moved past her, once again, to another desk across hers. This is how her day goes, till the bundy strikes 6pm, till the clock strikes 12 midnight, until the day is finally over. She’s ok. She’s wasn’t really expecting. She’s in denial. She’s unscathed or is she really?

When we go out, I am the more vivacious one, but I always was, and he doesn’t mind. Two people competing for the spotlight would be hard, but when it’s just one it works. The only time I complain about his being self-centered is when I’m going through something difficult on my own. As much as I enjoyed his company, his tendency to throw tantrums in public made him a less-than-ideal partner. I was living with the hope of what could be, rather than paying attention to the reality of what was. He needed to have someone so wowed by him that anything he could provide above that would be icing.

And so to the artists, say you are not one for romance and roses, perhaps once in a while you can shelve your strong opinions and bid away from “being different”. This woman is your special lady. Say she never asked for flowers, but why deny her the simple joy of receiving them? And if you really cannot, why not paint her a picture?

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Bring her the simple joy of receiving flowers, order high-quality roses from Island Rose – Flowers Philippines.

So she told me to give her a ring when I arrived in Malaysia. From the Philippines I took a flight to Singapore for a conference and took the bus to Kuala Lumpur, a good five hour drive down the long highway connecting Singapore to KL. She had offered me her place to stay for the week long vacation I decided to take this opportunity to extend my escape from the Philippines, as I still fondly remember. As it turns out she would be leaving (for Singapore, also for a conference) and really didn’t mind entrusting her place to me for the time being. I would jokingly call myself “her kept man.” This was probably the kindest gesture someone ever did for me and there I was, in one of the nicest condominiums in KL for an entire week.

And it took days for me to figure out what to give her in return. You see the catch was that my flight to the Philippines and her flight back didn’t coincide. I would be left leaving an empty condominium, dropping the key into the drop box in the administrator’s office for her to pick up a day after I left.

I usually spent afternoons in the coffee shop a good five minutes away from the condo and right beside it a grocery store where I’d get my cereals for the day and wine for the night. Part of my “returning home gift” for her included me restocking her pantry with cereals, cheese, bread and a bottle of house wine. But there was still something missing. Looking around the furnished condo I knew I was missing that special touch. And then it dawned on me as I glanced at the counter near the television. I ran back to the grocer and picked up a fresh batch of assorted flowers. Back in the condo, I emptied the vase of old water with withered flowers and replaced them. Good as new, her place now had that special touch.

Days later she leaves me a message on the computer saying she was very thankful for the pantry gesture – and especially gleeful about the floral arrangement in the living room. It’s a great feeling to know that you can make someone so happy even when you are so far away.  Since she moved in, this was the first time that vase’s contents were replaced.

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You can also put that smile on your loved one’s face. Choose the best flower delivery service and largest supplier of flowers to prestigious hotels and restaurants in the Philippines - visit www.islandrose.net.

The delivery that day consisted of a bunch of artificial roses of different colors. I bought three pink ones. I also got a small lightweight vase from the store as an accessory and gave specific instructions to the staff behind the counter on what I wanted them to create. The idea was to saw the fat vase in half, stick the halved part to the canvas and insert the roses inside creating … well, a three dimensional painting of a flower vase with pink flowers hanging out.

But something didn’t feel right. The artificial flowers did not have that fresh scent. In addition to that, they did not feel soft to the touch. So on the way home, I passed by the market to buy some fresh flowers. I didn’t mind if they did not last long, I just thought it would be a more authentic gift. The fresh flowers fit snugly in my three-dimensional painting.

It was already mother’s day and I was in a bit of a rush because it took a while for the canvas to dry. At that time I was more worried about how to wrap the darn thing as it didn’t look like it could fit the contour of any gift box. At the end of the day i settled with a small ribbon around the canvas with a greeting card. I felt that the gift’s creativity would outweigh its packaging anyway.

So I left the gift beside my mom’s bed before she got home. At that time I had an errand and left the house early that night. Hours later, I receive a message in my beeper (remember this was the mid 90’s!) from my mom saying how much she appreciated the gift. She told me that she hung the “painting” on the wall of the master’s bedroom. How elating!

I got home, fell asleep and woke up to a faint crashing noise.

And thus I learned my lesson to always use super glue instead of paste when doing arts and crafts!

Source: Island Rose – Flowers Philippines

When I was four years old. We had a family tradition in the house that my father was very particular with.  To convince us that the value of work was equated to how much we did, my father would give a small incentive for picking out the weeds in the garden. I remember it clearly that for every weed pulled out from the garden, my dad would give five cents.   That was cold hard cash in the Philippines back in the 80’s. I made sure not to pick the flowers. Or did I really, because after a while, I had that bright idea to give a “bouquet” of flowers to my mom. And by a bouquet, I mean a fistful of small flowers picked from the orchids in the garden. After making my delivery of weeds to my father and collecting my twenty minutes worth of pay, I made my way to my mother and proudly handed her my little gift. Funny.

I would always notice an awkward grin in my mom’s face when I would give her my gift.  At the time, I never knew what this meant, but at an early age of four, a smile the shape of a reversed coat hanger with the words “Very good” or “How thoughtful” are words I always received with glee.

A few years passed and I remember my mom bringing up that memory during dinner time. Later on, I found out from her that she didn’t like the idea of me picking the flowers from the garden because she was trying to cultivate them. It was rather funny – she didn’t want to reprimand me for such a kind gesture, thereby risking my developing a distorted sense of right and wrong. But what can a mother do, alas, but appreciate this innocent gesture of mine?

Today, I still give my mom flowers and she still has that smile on her face.  The only difference is that now, I do not pick flowers from our garden.  I send them through a flower delivery service.  More importantly, I now know the reason for her awkward smile.  Because every time I give her flowers, she never fails to cry with tears of joy.

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We are sure that you will love our carefully selected flower for you mom. Send flowers and make her smile today!

This letter was email in through Island Rose Flowers Philippines.

We always love hearing what our customers have to say because it gives us the opportunity to bring relationships closer. Finding better ways to make your ordering experience better is meaningful to us.

Below are just some of the great feedback we have received over the past year. We would like to thank everyone for their kind words and support. We hope you enjoyed our service as much as we enjoyed serving you!

“I have been using your services for a good number of years now. I don’t even remember how I got to your site the first time but have kept your URL in my bookmarks and certainly in my del.i.cious. Anyway, this time I registered in your site as I know I’ll be using your services again. I am really a satisfied customer & have been “evangelising” to my friends about you. Recently I decided to even blog about you. Thanks again & please keep up the fab work! Do not let your outstanding customer service flounder”
Just thought you’d like to know:

http://kwentongwalangkwenta.blogspot.com/2007/05/sending-flowers-for-mothers-day-or-for.html

Donna - London

“Thank you for the very efficient and wonderful service. Our family have been patronizing your company ’cause we are really happy with your service. We will continue to reach out to you for our messages via flowers. We will also spread the words to our friends so that they will do the same.
The recipient of the flowers love the roses !!! Thanks a million and more power “

Sonia Capistrano RN – Houston, Texas

“Thank you very much! I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was to place this order. The order was received Tuesday morning, in excellent condition. Everything went perfect! Completely outstanding service! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you very much. Marie sent me pictures of the roses, and they look even better than I thought they would! She is incredibly happy, and so am I. You are truly the BEST flower delivery service out there. Thanks again”

Steve Sharp – Sugar Creek, Missouri

“Just wanted to say thank you everyone at IslandRose for my recent order. Once again, the quality of the flowers, the reasonable price, and the ontime delivery, has made doing business with IslandRose a trouble free, rewarding experience. It is so nice knowing I can place an order online, and not have to worry about a thing. IslandRose Rocks!”

Phil Grant – Phoenix, Arizona

“Just want to thank you for the great service and patience with me on this order… job well done.. they loved the flowers — they said they’re soooo pretty!!! thank you soo much… — I’m now at the airport waiting to board my flight to London, I just thought I’d email you and say – MANY THANKS!!!! — till next order…”

Maria Barrameda – Surry Hills, Australia

“Thanks so much again for delivering the flowers on the time I requested. I will continue to use Island Rose (this is my 5th transaction with you guys now I believe!) & recommend your website to my friends once more! Maraming Salamat”

Reynolds Reyes – Alberta, Canada

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Island Rose – Gifts and Flowers, Philippines