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Bloom time
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Flowers are increasingly replacing conventional gifts as the perfect option
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Photo: K. Ananthan
Refreshing gifts Flowers convey value not the price
The car pulls up briefly at the makeshift wooden rack under a tree by the roadside.
With the 100 rupee note held between the tips of the index and the middle finger, the arm stretches out the car window.
Money and roses exchange hands, windows roll up and the car speeds off, its occupants already late for the wedding reception.
So perfunctory and impersonal a deal – for something that brings so much joy and fragrance with them.
Maybe that’s alright as a wedding gift where your bouquet would get piled up behind the newly-married couple’s ‘thrones’ with hundreds of others.
Trendspotters say flowers are gaining favour as gifts. Different occasions, different audiences, different tastes… Hence different flowers.
From anthurium, oriental lilies orchids and chrysanthemums to carnations and gladioli, the options are endless. If he says “she loves arranging flowers at home,” the suggestion would be to pack a bunch of long stemmed flowers of different varieties, says Prabhjot of Orchids Florists
“Repeat customers customise their purchase to their audience’s personal preferences, moods, occasions etc, and we help them make their choice in an unhurried way,” she says.
Flowers are fast replacing other traditional gifts like chocolate hampers, sweets etc. Flowers don’t offend the health conscious. And they convey only value and not price.
Hence flowers can pass as a harmless, goodwill gift without the lurking suspicion of Rs. 500 notes being somewhere underside the box.
And it’s not the flowers alone. The presentations have seen the creative juices flow.
The base of the bouquet may be of naturally carved driftwood, tree barks, cane or bamboo baskets, folded mats, or glass vases. The shapes of the bases range from round to oval, from canoe shaped to tall tumbler shaped.
The fillers - Causarina, Eucalyptus, ribbed palm leaves, asparagus, statis, Song of India… with painted dried plants, gauzed cloth, coloured dried bamboo twigs, dried coconut fibre… all these sprinkled with glitter jewel dust in shiny pink, red, blue.
This business has seen investments like cold rooms at 10 degree centigrade, an inbound call centre with nightly delivery options, stores open till late nights for you to collect a surprise floral gift on the way back home, a busy back office, on-going experiments on presentations etc. The reason for this is sales have grown at 25 per cent in recent times and has crossed a crore in revenue, says Prabhjot.
Good for the eyes, mind and body. May they bloom and bring more joy to the giver and the taker alike.
BALAJI VITTAL
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