The second Sunday in May is the single busiest day of the year for every florist in this city. Not Valentine's Day, which is bigger for roses alone. Mother's Day, by volume, is the one that defines our year.
That shapes what a florist can offer, and when. Here is how we think about the day, and what we would tell you across the counter.
Consider Saturday instead of Sunday
This is the advice we give most often and the one people are most surprised by.
Sunday delivery capacity is finite across the whole city, and it fills first. Saturday is calmer, the flowers are just as fresh, and a bouquet that arrives the day before means she wakes up on Mother's Day with flowers already in the house rather than waiting for a doorbell.
Both dates are there to choose at checkout. If Sunday is the one, pick it a week ahead and it is held for you.
What is actually in season in early May
May in Montreal is a transition. Some of what you might picture is finishing, and some has not started yet.
| At their peak | Lisianthus, garden roses, spray roses and stock, with ranunculus when the ones we are offered are good enough. |
| Finishing | Tulips. Still beautiful, but by May they will give you five days rather than ten. |
| A gamble | Peonies. Imported ones are available, but the Quebec season usually starts a few weeks later. Ask us in the order notes and we will tell you what actually arrived. |
| Always right | An orchid plant. It flowers for two to three months, which outlasts every bouquet in this table by a wide margin. |
These are indications rather than guarantees. Vase life varies with the season, the variety, the temperature of the room and the care given.
Match it to her, not to the occasion
The bouquets people remember are the specific ones. A few directions that work:
- If she is classic: a monochrome arrangement in white, cream or soft pink. Restraint reads as expensive, because it is harder to do.
- If she is bright: colour, and plenty of it. Corals, sunny yellows, hot pinks. This is not the year to be tasteful.
- If she gardens: a loose, textured, garden-style bouquet rather than a tight round one. She will notice the difference immediately.
- If she has everything: the flower she mentions. People tell us about a childhood peony bush, a grandmother's roses. Put it in the order notes. That detail is worth more than any upgrade in size.
The one detail that does the work
A customer in Vancouver ordered for his mother here. He did not know what to choose, but wrote in his order that she loved purple and anything fragrant. We built lavender roses, purple stock and purple lisianthus. He told us afterwards that she was thrilled less by the bouquet than by the fact that he had known. One sentence in a text field made the whole thing work.
Ordering from outside Montreal
A large share of our Mother's Day orders come from adult children living elsewhere, in Toronto, New York, Paris, Beirut. You order online in English or French, we arrange it here, and it is hand-delivered locally.
Two things make these orders go smoothly. Give us a phone number for the recipient, because a delivery to an empty house is the most common hitch. And tell us one thing about her in the order notes, as the customer above did. It is what turns a lovely bouquet into the right one.
If she is in a residence or a care home
Send something compact in a vase rather than a large wrapped bouquet. Rooms are small, staff are busy, and nobody there will be hunting for a vase. Go easy on fragrance, which travels in shared spaces. And check the reception hours, which are often shorter on Sundays.
If you have left it late
Order online all the same and let us surprise you. On the Friday and Saturday before Mother's Day, the freshest thing in the shop is whatever came in that morning, and a florist's choice bouquet puts it straight into your order.
And if you have missed the date entirely, send during the following week instead of apologising by text. Flowers that arrive on a quiet Wednesday, with a note that says you were thinking about her, are received better than you would expect.
Order for Mother's Day
It all happens in the order: choose the bouquet, pick Saturday or Sunday, tell us one thing about her in the notes, and type your card message. Every bouquet includes a printed card at no charge, and the message matters more than the size.
Discover our Mother's Day collection, our orchid plants and our luxury collection, each arranged by hand in our workshop on the day it is delivered, in Montreal, Laval and on the South Shore.
