This is the final post of a two part review of florists in Alpharetta. If you haven’t already, please follow this link and read my first post.

A little more than a week ago I bought my wife seven arrangements of red roses as an anniversary gift. All seven came from different stores, two from full-service florists, some from grocery stores, big box retailers and Costco.

For the last week I’ve watched each arrangement and observed the roses themselves. The results have been surprising. Here’s what I found, starting with the full-service florists.

Florist at Windward

By far the best arrangement of the group. The blooms were not the largest but they held up the best. Nine days after purchase, they are still in the vase and looking decent.

This is the second time I’ve purchased flowers from these guys. Both times I’ve received above average service. The folks here are from somewhere in eastern Europe and speak with an accent that can be hard to understand. But they always help me out to the car with my flowers. You’ll also get a very sturdy car carrier for the roses. You could drive home like Bo and Luke Duke and that vase wouldn’t turn over.

Alpharetta Flower Market

This is the current name of the florist on Main Street in the heart of downtown Alpharetta. On first impression, these roses were the best. The blooms were the largest of the seven arrangements I purchased. Even the baby’s breath buds were big. Going on initial wow factor, these guys win. However, these roses started drooping after just a few days. At the end of a week, the entire dozen held their heads down in shame.

Costco

The biggest surprise of them all. Dollar for dollar, they were the cheapest. Seventeen bucks scored two dozen of these guys, cheaper than even Walmart. On top of that, they were large blooms. The stems came trimmed of thorns and were easy to arrange. They also lasted well into the second week. I’ve purchased flowers at Costco before and they never performed as well. Maybe we got lucky on this purchase. If you don’t mind arranging the roses in your own vase, this is the way to go.

Publix – Downtown Alpharetta

They have the nicest in-store flower shop of any grocery store. The arrangement I bought looked pretty good, with the best greenery of any of the store bought flowers. They were also the most expensive of the store bought. How did they perform? The roses never opened beyond their buds and drooped quickly. I was very disappointed overall.

Walmart and Target

Fair at best. Small roses with little to no greenery. They both lasted a little longer than Publix but not an entire week. Target’s roses lasted a bit longer. I don’t suggest either store.

Kroger

They sell 15 roses for about the price of a dozen. That’s a plus I guess. But these were the only flowers to actually lose petals during my experiment. All in all, a disappointment.

Final Thoughts

My wife seems to enjoy taking flowers and arranging them in her own vase. She doesn’t place a lot of value in the presentation of flowers from a florist. So going on that alone, Costco is the way to go. Flowers from a florist will cost you eight times more per stem. Not worth it in the long run.

However, if you can catch flowers in season, florists are the way to go. I’ve purchases roses from florists that are bigger than baseballs. That’s never going to happen at a store. I would love to see a florist adopt a social media strategy to alert customers when they receive a shipment of super premium blooms. Something similar to my social media advice to restaurants would probably work here. Take note, florists!

As much as I’d like to see the traditional florist stick around, stores like Costco are going to make that tough. They are likely to become my go-to spot for spur-of-the-moment flower purchases. Were I to pick a traditional florist in Alpharetta, the Florist on Windward would be my first choice.