The best place to buy roses online
Whether it be a holiday, a milestone, sympathy, or just because, sending fresh flowers is a thoughtful way to let someone know you’re thinking of them. And it’s easier than ever: there are now dozens of online merchants out there, with a wide array of options — fresh bouquets, live plants, dried or preserved arrangements, subscriptions, and more — all at varying price points.
While our staff has used nearly every one of these services to send loved ones bouquets over the years, we wanted to know exactly how they stack up against one another. To find the best flower delivery service, we ordered 39 arrangements from 16 popular brands, sending the flowers to Insider Reviews team members all over the country. Our goal was to find a service that delivers the freshest, most attractive flowers that arrive on time no matter your location.
You can read more about our methodology, and find out more about what services didn’t make the cut here.
Here are the best online flower delivery services in 2022
Best flower delivery service overall: UrbanStems
UrbanStems makes some of the most stunning bouquets we’ve found and offers something for everyone, with a diverse selection of fresh flowers, dried flowers, plants, gifts, and subscriptions.
Best flower delivery service for farm-fresh flowers: Farmgirl Flowers
Farmgirl Flowers offers unique and playful arrangements that change with what’s in season and with many blooms sourced from California farmers.
Best flower delivery service for custom arrangements: Floracracy
Floracracy’s custom arrangements are a unique way to mark life’s meaningful moments and make gifting flowers feel incredibly personal and special.
Best flower delivery service for same-day delivery: FTD
FTD offers hundreds of bouquets, gifts, and plants for delivery in all 50 states and 150 counties, with many options for same-day arrival.
Best flower delivery subscription: BloomsyBox
BloomsyBox offers a la carte bouquets and plants, but its wide variety of subscription plans are where the service really shines.
Best flower delivery service for preserved roses: RoseBox
Preserved roses are incredibly popular and can last more than a year with proper care. We love Rosebox for preserved roses because of its robust selection of arrangements, vases, and colors.
Best flower delivery service for fresh roses: Roses Only
As the name implies, Roses Only sells just one product but it does it remarkably well, delivering some of the most pristine, stunning, long-stemmed roses we’ve ever seen.
Best flower delivery service for dried bouquets: East Olivia
Fresh flowers have a short lifespan but dried florals from East Olivia can last for years with proper care and feature inventive colors and textures not found in traditional fresh bouquets.
Shop all flowers on UrbanStems
Pros: Lots of options to choose from, including dried bouquets and plants; attractive floral designs in a range of styles, sizes, and prices
Cons: Some testers noted flowers lasted a few days less than other brands
UrbanStems offers a robust selection of modern, fresh bouquets, along with dried flowers, plants, candles, chocolate, and subscriptions. It’s a great one-stop-shop to find something that feels unique to your recipient.
We tried the Juliet, Luna, and Double the Pink Champagne fresh bouquets, along with the Aspen dried bouquet and Claude plant. Everything arrived on time and in excellent condition. The arrangements were some of the freshest, most attractive bouquets we tested and were filled with lively, creative blooms in a range of colors.
The bouquets lasted a little over a week — average for fresh-cut flowers — and the dried bouquet and plant are still going strong. The site is also very easy to navigate and lets you filter by occasion, color, price, and more.
Read our full review of UrbanStems.
Worth a look:
Double the Juliet, $122
The Finesse, $80
The Suri dried bouquet, $105
Shop all bouquets from Farmgirl Flowers
Pros: Whimsical, in-season blooms; each bouquet is unique; moderately priced; offers some rare flowers; some florals are grown in the US
Cons: Surprise bouquets are not ideal if you have specific flowers you want to include or avoid; some customers report wilting or short-lived blooms
If you’re after an arrangement that looks like it was recently plucked from the garden, Farmgirl Flowers offers inventive and playful bouquets based on what’s in season. Farmgirl’s flagship offerings are the Fun Size, Just Right, and Big Love bouquets (formerly Mini, Midi, and Maxi). You don’t get to choose what you receive; instead, Farmgirl puts together a bouquet based on what’s available and in season. The company’s website and social media give you an idea of what to expect, but every bouquet is slightly different, giving it a special, unique feel.
I received a Just Right and a Big Love, as well as another Just Right sent to a tester in California. I love that the arrangements had a whimsical, wild shape to them, and they were gorgeous from every angle. The Just Right and Big Love both appeared the same size when I first received them, but after a few hours in water, the Big Love’s closed buds opened up to create a fuller bouquet.
If you want your bouquet to include (or avoid) certain flowers, Farmgirl also offers a few dozen specialty bouquets, including some rare blooms like flower breeder David Austin’s Juliet and Patience roses.
Worth a look:
Just Right Burlap-Wrapped Bouquet, $79
Before Sunrise David Austin and Wabara roses, $101
Bright of my Life, $120
Rose Goes, $55
Shop all flowers on Floracracy
Pros: Completely customizable arrangements, online tool that helps you choose the right arrangement, beautiful presentation, and packaging, thoughtful extras like a petal pressing book and mini shears, letter writing service
Cons: Online tool can be a bit tricky to navigate, lots of packaging (though most options are compostable or recyclable), few budget options
If you really want to wow your giftee with something special, a custom arrangement from Floracracy is perhaps the most personal flower gift you can buy. Every aspect of the design can be customized, from the shape and the colors to the blooms. If you’re not sure where to start, the company’s design tool walks you through a quiz that lets you select the intended recipient, occasion, and meaning you wish to convey, and then makes a recommendation for you. Each flower is paired with a meaning from the company’s thorough research of historical flower symbolism. You’re also given the option to write a letter yourself or have the company write one for you based on the information you provide.
The arrangements we received from Floracracy were the lushest and most vibrant we’ve ever seen from a flower delivery service. Each arrangement comes with a coordinating vase, a handbound book for pressing petals, and an illustrated card with each of the flowers and their meaning. Our blooms lasted almost three weeks; longer than any other arrangement. While this service is pricier and requires some of your time to design, it makes for a truly meaningful and memorable flower gift.
Read our full review of Floracracy here.
Worth a look:
The Victorian, $330
Chloe Tussie Mussie, $178
Garden Profile, $105
The Strand, $405
