Interflora flower delivery review: Still a great choice for gift bouquets delivered fast
Interflora is the world’s best-known florist, but are its flowers worth ordering?
Interflora understands that a fresh arrangement of seasonal flowers is the perfect last-minute gift. The established florist faces competition from fashionable rivals such as Floom and Bloom & Wild, but its three-hour delivery option keeps it ahead of the game. When you’ve forgotten Mother’s Day, a birthday or your anniversary, it’s Interflora to the rescue.
But with prices topping £300 for a single bouquet, is Interflora worth paying for? To be worth it, you have to trust that the flowers are fresh, beautifully arranged and impressively presented. In this review, we reveal why Interflora is still a blooming good choice.
What do you get for the money?
Interflora delivers wrapped arrangements of high-quality flowers which, in our experience, stay fresh for several days. That peace of mind is vital when you’re buying for someone else. You won’t have a chance to see it before it arrives at their door, after all.
Whatever your budget, Interflora also offers the easiest ordering process of any flower service we tried, plus fast delivery and a choice of plants and custom gifts as well as bouquets.
Only a few of Interflora’s arrangements come with three-figure price tags. Most cost around £40-50. We think it’s fair to have a few very expensive products in the range, to accommodate those who want to spend big on a special once-in-a-lifetime gift.
What are Interflora’s flower arrangements like?
Whatever flower combination you go for, they’re arranged in a traditional posy-type bouquet, exactly as pictured on the website (as with our “Lemon Drizzle Hand-tied” arrangement). That’s reassuring, because you’ll know how your recipient’s gift will look. But it’s not particularly adventurous. If you’re after a cooler, contemporary wildflower spray, you may prefer Bloom & Wild or Appleyard Flowers.
Interflora has more than 120 flower types to choose from, ranging from inexpensive carnations to red roses in decadent dome arrangements. The range also includes exotic stems such as Alstroemeria (Peruvian lilies) and Bouvardia (flowering shrubs from Mexico). Read the current list in the “Content” filter box on the “All flowers” page. There are also selection filters for occasion, colour and price range, plus seasonal highlights for instant shopping if you’re suddenly stuck for a gift.
Can Interflora deliver a bouquet today?
Yes, if you order by 3pm. You can even opt to have flowers delivered within three hours. We found the site’s delivery settings really easy to navigate, putting it ahead of rivals for easy last-minute ordering.
Interflora can deliver so fast because it uses a network of 1,200 local florists, in the UK and beyond, who arrange and deliver the blooms. Our bouquet’s gift pack included the local florist’s branding as well as Interflora’s. One downside of this is the potential for inconsistency, even though florists are instructed to wrap and present flowers in the precise Interflora style. We have seen negative reviews on sites such as Mumsnet. Our own experience was excellent, however, with faultless handling during transit, picture-perfect arranging, recyclable packaging and courteous delivery.
All Interflora’s arrangements are delivered by hand, which does of course mean someone has to be in to receive your gift (a neighbour, if all else fails). There’s no “letterbox flowers” option, as there is with Bloom & Wild and Flowerbx.
How fresh are the flowers when they arrive?
Our flowers turned up in perfect condition and stayed fresh for more than a week, somewhat longer than we’d expected. All Interflora’s arrangements come with a seven-day freshness guarantee.
Unlike letterbox flowers, they’re delivered properly arranged, secured carefully in a leak-proof water bag to keep the flowers fresh during transit, so you don’t have to do any arranging yourself. Just snip open the water bag over the sink, and transfer the bouquet to a vase. You get flower food and instructions to help keep them looking lovely for as long as possible.
We also ordered a rose plant from the selection, and so far it’s shown no sign of wilting while it adds colour and life to our kitchen windowsill.
Can I save money by signing up for a subscription?
No, Interflora doesn’t offer a subscription option yet. See our roundup of the best flower subscription services.
Should I order flowers from Interflora?
If you’re looking for a swiftly delivered gift of fresh, professionally arranged, beautifully wrapped flowers that’ll make someone’s day (or month!), then Interflora is well worth considering. The large, posy-style bouquets have a real wow factor that make them well worth £30-50, especially with Interflora’s superfast delivery options.
The bouquets may not be quite right if you’re looking for regular flower deliveries to your own home, however. They’re dressed to impress at first sight, rather than be used by you to create your own arrangement. For that, try a Bloom & Wild subscription instead.
