For high-quality flowers and service, skip the Internet and head to a local florist: That's one of the messages Bankrate.com sent out to readers in a recent holiday-themed story, "Thrifty Gifting." The story, which encouraged readers to be frugal, not cheap, advocated flowers as an appropriate, well-received holiday gift, but it also stressed that not all flowers, or florists, are the same.

Highlights from the story include:

• Karen Marinelli, a Pennsylvania-based floral industry consultant, said florists have more "incentive" to properly care for flowers and plants than big-box stores. "The florist paid for them the minute they got them," Marinelli said. Later in the story, Marinelli also cautioned readers about order-gatherers and overpriced online-only companies. "In my estimation, a good professional florist can convey the same expression in flowers for at least $25 less than it would cost to send the expression by an online order-gatherer," she said.

• Meanwhile, Paul Goodman, CPA, a Floral Management contributing writer and industry consultant, stressed to Bankrate.com that, even if a local flower shop is more expensive than an order-gatherer, florists deliver a higher level of service. For readers intent on heading to the Web, Goodman recommended Teleflora's FindaFlorist.com directory, which directs users to local affiliated florists.

• Amy Stewart, author of Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers, also weighed in on the story, recommending Organic Bouquet and specialty grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for their selection of TransFair USA and Veriflora certified flowers.

Read the entire story, which includes statistics and feedback from SAF representatives, here.

--Mary Westbrook
mwestbrook@safnow.org

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