So he gave me a rose. A single rose. A stunning, long-stemmed American beauty. And then he asked me to be his friend. Something wrong with this whole scenario….what say? And I say this to all guys, hey! Figure it out. Suppose you want to be friends with her, give her a bunch of daisies! Gift her a pet rock, give her a puppy, for crying out loud! Anything except that statement red rose! I’ve seen my girlfriends making the same confusing flower choices, and it’s a no-no.

This, my dear people is the very delicate realm of floral etiquette. It starts with a simple prom corsage, moves on to birthday flowers and special occasion blooms…and this affair never really ends for the duration of any significant relationship. Here I’m adding some essential flower tips to start you off on this fragrant journey that always, always leads you to good places!

Red Roses: Red roses are always a great gift for a lover for practically any occasion or for no occasion at all. Indeed the power of “I love you” behind long stemmed red roses given to a significant other is a winner for any occasion, and is especially powerful when given for no occasion at all. The red rose signifies “romantic love”, so it may be a bit much in some cases. However, most will find that red roses are a consistent winner.

Yellow Roses: Yellow roses are the flower of friendship. They are a perfect gift for a co-worker or sibling. However, they might be too timid to express romantic interest. Remember, they do not express the romanticism of the red rose.

Pink Roses: Pink roses are the flowers of secret love. They are a perfect medium between the friendship of a yellow rose, and the romantic love of the red rose. They express a secret love, and should not be mistaken purely as a friendship gift like the yellow rose.

White Roses: White roses are the flowers of innocent love. They are ideal for family members and family occasions, even sad or memorial occasions.

Carnations: Carnations are the flower of fascination. They are an ideal flower to give to a romantic interest that has not yet blossomed into a relationship.

Orchids: Orchids are the flowers of love and beauty. They can be given for practically any occasion to practically anybody. Orchids are universally appealing flowers that do not carry significant meaning for most occasions.

Daisy: Daisies are the flowers of loyal love. They are a perfect flower to give to a mother on Mother’s Day, or for any occasion, like a friend’s birthday or special day.

Lily: The Lily is the flower of purity and sweetness. It is an ideal flower to give to a friend, a niece or a daughter.

Chrysanthemum: The Chrysanthemum is a flower of friendship, so it will go well on any occasion, but may not be ideal for expressing romantic interest.

Get your flowers right and you’re closer to being the completely charming and relationship-savvy person that you’ve always wanted to be. Hope it works beautifully for you! Cheers, Nina