Brooklana Flower Delivery Today, Up From the Coast

You know the birthday, but you may never have been past their front gate. The number is usually on a letterbox at the road, and the house can be a good way up the drive. The road number, the property name, a mobile and a word about any dogs in the notes are what get the flowers there. Back when Siobhan and I did the deliveries ourselves, I learned the dog part in 2008 on a farm off Kyogle Road near Uki, when 2 dogs met a 60th birthday bunch at the car well before anyone from the house did. Our birthday flowers suit most people, and there's a range for him too.

Anna: Natives are the tough ones for a country birthday, as proteas have woody stems that come through a long drive without wilting.

You might be ringing round from another state just to find out which ward they're on. If they're still at Coffs Harbour Health Campus, put their full name in the notes, and the ward too if you've tracked it down; in our experience the ward staff take the flowers in from the desk. If they're home, send get well flowers to the house. Our hospital flowers are the place to start for the ward, and "Thinking of you, hope you're home soon" is plenty for the card.

Chrysanthemums and Asiatic lilies suit a shared ward because neither has much scent, and the person in the next bed didn't ask for a room full of oriental lily.

Nothing you send will feel big enough, but the family do notice who thought of them. A wreath or sheath goes to the service, with the funeral director's name and the service time in the notes. Sympathy flowers for the family home are easier on everyone a day or 2 after the funeral, once the visitors have gone. "With love, and thinking of you all" says enough.

Anna, on sympathy colours

White, cream and soft green suit most families. I'd send our Gorgeous Whites Bunch to the house, because the lily buds open in turn while the chrysanthemums and carnations last around them. In a house, unlike a shared ward, the lily scent is part of the gift.

Plenty of orders don't fit a heading, like a thank you to the neighbour who kept an eye on the place, or flowers for no reason at all.

Anna's pick: I'd send our Australian Native Arrangement, because the proteas, banksias and leucadendrons come set in a box, so nobody has to find a vase. Once the foliage has had its run, the banksias and proteas dry with their shape intact and will sit on a shelf for months.