Why We Know Men Love Flowers (And What 18 Years on the Shop Floor Taught Us)

Order Valentine's Day flowers for the man in your life and get same day delivery when you order before 2pm weekdays or 10am Saturdays. Yes, men love flowers too and we've got the proof. We've spent 18 years sending flowers across Australia through our network of 800+ partner florists, and every February our phone rings with the same question: can I send flowers to my husband, boyfriend, dad? The answer is absolutely yes. Keep reading to find out which arrangements work best and why, straight from our qualified florist Anna.

Why We Know Men Love Flowers (And How We Learned It)

My name is Siobhan. My partner Andrew and I started Lily's Florist back in 2009, though the story really began in a tiny flower shop on Marine Parade in Kingscliff a few years earlier. We bought that shop in 2006 with a baby on the way and zero flower experience. Our accountant told us not to buy it. We did anyway.

* Our shop at 1/98 Marine Parade, Kingscliff. This is where it started in 2006, a tiny florist with a phone that wouldn't stop ringing and two people who had no idea what they were doing.

The original plan was to scale back the flowers and build up the gifting side with organic skincare and baby products. But that phone kept ringing. The previous owner had taken out a Yellow Pages advertisement, the actual book if you can believe it, and suddenly we were fielding 40 calls a day for flowers to places we'd never heard of. Murwillumbah. Townsville. Ballarat. We said no to most of them at first because we didn't know how to say yes.

Eventually we figured it out. We started partnering with local florists in those areas, building relationships one phone call at a time. That single idea became the foundation of everything we do now. Today we coordinate flower deliveries through over 800 partner florists across Australia, real shops with real florists making fresh arrangements, not warehouses shipping boxes overnight.

Through all those years and all those orders, there's one thing that still surprises people when I tell them: men absolutely love receiving flowers.

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The Phone Call That Changed How We Think About Valentine's Day

Anna has been with us for over 15 years now. She trained as a florist before joining our team, spent years on the bench making arrangements, and knows more about flowers than Andrew and I ever will. These days she handles our bookkeeping, but she still answers the phones when things get busy. Valentine's week is always chaos.

I remember a call she took back when we were still operating out of our converted garage in Pottsville. This was probably 2011 or 2012. The office was packed with temporary desks, I was heavily pregnant with Ivy, and every phone was ringing constantly. A woman called wanting to send flowers to her husband for Valentine's Day. She sounded almost apologetic about it, like she was doing something unusual.

* Our Pottsville garage office, circa 2011. Six permanent desks, two temporary ones for Valentine's week, a VOIP phone system, and a coffee machine that earned its keep. This is where Anna took the call that changed how we think about sending flowers to men.

Anna didn't miss a beat. "Love it," she said. "Men are actually easier than women in some ways. They don't overthink the arrangement. They just see someone thought of them and that's the whole message right there."

She spent a few minutes with the caller talking through options. Not the classic dozen red roses, which felt too feminine for this particular bloke according to his wife. Something with more structure. Natives came up. Bold colours without the frills.

The order went out. A few days later we got a message saying the husband had been completely shocked, in a good way, and had apparently told half his workmates about it.

Anna's insight from that call stuck with me: "Blokes process flowers differently. They're not analysing the variety or critiquing the colour palette. They're just thinking, someone did this for me. That's the emotional hit. So you pick something that suits their vibe and let the gesture do the work."

What Actually Works for Male Recipients

Anna has strong opinions about which flowers work best for men, and after 15 years of watching orders go out and feedback come back, I trust those opinions completely.

"The mistake people make is overthinking it," she told me recently. "They worry about finding 'masculine' flowers, whatever that means. Really it's about matching the energy of the person. A single wrapped rose says something direct and confident. Natives feel Australian and unfussy. A classic red rose bunch is romantic without being complicated. Pick based on who they are, not some idea of what men are supposed to like."

Here's what Anna recommends and why each one works:

Single Wrapped Red Rose

This is the one Anna reaches for first when someone calls unsure about sending to a man.

"A single rose is actually quite powerful," she explains. "It's not trying too hard. It's confident. Some people think bigger is better but a single stem says I thought about this specifically. There's intention behind it."

The presentation matters too. Our partner florists wrap it properly with quality paper and greenery so it arrives looking considered rather than like a last minute petrol station grab.

Valentine's Day Flowers with Chocolates & Teddy

For the bloke who'd appreciate something to eat alongside the sentiment, this combination works brilliantly.

"Chocolates give men something to do with their hands while they process the emotion," Anna says, only half joking. "Seriously though, it's a nice balance. The flower is the message, the chocolate is the treat. Together they feel complete."

One of our customers put it perfectly in their review: "My girlfriend lives in Mackay and I'm in the United States and I wanted to send her flowers for her birthday and Lily's florists was amazing to work with." That one was flower to a woman, but the same simplicity applies in reverse. A rose and chocolates. Done. Beautiful.

Single Wrapped Rose with Teddy

Some people think teddies are only for women or children. Anna disagrees.

"I've sent these to dads from their kids, to husbands from wives, even to grandfathers. The teddy adds a playful element. It's not taking itself too seriously, which a lot of men appreciate."

We had a review come through that captures this perfectly: "Easy to order by phone, and arrived same day. Dad loved his flowers and teddy."

There you go. Dad loved it.

Australian Natives Arrangement

This is Anna's pick for men who aren't traditionally "flower people" or who have a more outdoorsy personality.

"Natives have structure," she explains. "Banksias, proteas, gum foliage. They're bold and textured rather than delicate. Some blokes who wouldn't know what to do with a bunch of roses will put a native arrangement on their desk and be genuinely chuffed about it."

There's also a practical advantage. Native flowers tend to have tougher stems and longer vase life. Anna mentioned that banksias and proteas have woody stems that don't need the same constant water changes as softer flowers. They're forgiving if the recipient isn't going to fuss over them daily.

12 Red Roses Bunch

The classic. If you want to make a statement, this is it.

"Twelve red roses is romantic and there's no ambiguity about the message," Anna says. "It's not subtle, which is sometimes exactly what you want."

When our partner florists put together a dozen roses, they're checking the sepals at the market first. Anna taught them this years ago. When the sepals, those green leaf bits at the base of the bud, fold back to about ninety degrees, the flower has stored enough sugar to open properly. Buds cut too tight often lack the energy to bloom fully. It's a small detail but it means the roses you receive actually perform as they should.

One customer left this feedback after a Valentine's order: "Went above and beyond for a Valentine's Day order, I ordered at 10am and they managed to get the delivery to my partners workplace done early afternoon so she received them before finishing work. Much appreciated!"

Same day delivery works for men too, obviously. Order before 2pm on a weekday and we can usually get it there that day.

What Our Customers Say

We've been collecting reviews through Feefo since 2013. Over 23,000 of them now. Flowers are subjective, way more subjective than buying a camera or a kettle where the specs either match the description or they don't. So putting ourselves out there with an independent review platform was a risk. It's also how we've improved over the years. Real feedback from real customers.

Here's one that made us smile: "Flower arrangement perfect 4 male receiver...delivered & everyone is as happy as a pig is poop!"

Not the most eloquent review we've ever received, but honest. And that's the point. Men receive flowers from us all the time and the feedback is consistently positive.

Another customer wrote about their Valentine's experience: "I put in a last minute valentines day order and it was processed and delivered hassle free, definitely 5 star service."

Valentine's Day is our busiest period by far. The phones don't stop. But we've been doing this long enough now that the systems work even under pressure. Order before 2pm and we can usually make same day delivery happen, even on February 14th if you're organised enough to get your order in early.

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How Our Partner Florist Network Works

I mentioned earlier that we work with over 800 partner florists across Australia. This matters because your flowers aren't made in some warehouse and shipped overnight in a box. A real florist in the area where your flowers are being delivered makes the arrangement fresh that day.

When you order from us, the system routes your order to the best available partner florist based on the delivery postcode and what stock they have. If our partner in one suburb is low on red roses, the order goes to the next closest shop that has them. It's how we maintain quality and reliability across such a wide area.

These partnerships go back years in many cases. Our first partner florist outside of Kingscliff was the Flower Shed in Murwillumbah. I remember the day I drove out there with Asha, my daughter who was barely walking at the time, nervous about whether this model would even work. The owner said yes immediately. That was 2008 or 2009. Some of our partners have been with us for 15 years now.

Tips for Ordering Valentine's Flowers for Him

A few practical things worth knowing:

Same day delivery cutoffs: Order before 2pm on weekdays or 10am on Saturdays and we can usually get flowers delivered that same day. Sundays we don't deliver because flower markets close Saturday afternoon. Any florist delivering Sunday is using Friday stock that's already lost roughly 30% of its vase life. Anna won't do it and neither will we.

Delivery fee: Our delivery is $16.95 and that's subsidised. The actual cost is often higher but we absorb the difference because we want delivery to feel affordable.

Gift cards: You can customise your message and we handwrite it on a proper card. Some people prefer to stay anonymous, especially for Valentine's Day, and we can leave the card off entirely if you prefer.

Phone orders: If you'd rather talk to a person, call 1300 360 469. Our team is Australian based, mostly in Armidale NSW, and they actually know about flowers because we've trained them properly.

The Emotional Logic of Sending Flowers to Men

Anna put something into words a while back that I think about often.

"People tie themselves in knots about what men want. But the reality is simpler than that. Flowers communicate care. That's universal. When someone receives an unexpected bunch at work or at home, the immediate reaction isn't to analyse the bloom varieties. It's to feel seen. To feel like someone thought about them specifically."

She's right. We've watched this play out thousands of times through reviews, through customer feedback, through the messages that come back after deliveries. Men might express surprise more than women when flowers arrive. The cultural expectation catches them off guard. But the emotional response is the same. Someone did something thoughtful and it landed.

So if you've been wondering whether you can send Valentine's flowers to the man in your life, the answer is yes. And based on 18 years of doing this, the odds are very good that he'll love it.

Ready to order? Browse our Valentine's Day collection or give us a call on 1300 360 469. Same day delivery available when you order before 2pm weekdays or 10am Saturdays