Same Day Flower Delivery Across Fletcher, NSW 2287

In a house full of kids, a birthday is probably a school day like any other, Mum's included. Put her mobile in the notes, and if she's out on the school run the driver tends to ring and say where the flowers are. Start with birthday flowers for a wife, or, if it's the six-year-old's birthday, the Gerbera Bunch with a teddy and a balloon (Nan, that one's for you).

Anna's tip: gerberas have hollow stems, and dirty water clogs them until the head folds at the neck. If a head starts to nod, recut two centimetres and stand it in shallow warm water for an hour. It comes back.

You're thrilled for them, and nowhere near the hospital, both at once. From Fletcher the birth is often at John Hunter, and in our experience a lot of new mums are home within a day or two, so ask the family where mum and baby will be before you pick the day. If they're still on the ward, add her full name and the maternity unit to the notes, then pick from our new baby flowers. I know the maternity desk from the wrong side: in 2007, heavily pregnant with Asha, I carried a bunch up to maternity at John Flynn in Tugun and the midwife asked where my bag was. I'd only brought the flowers.

Keep new-baby flowers low on scent and low on fuss. A strong perfume fills a small room fast, and new parents aren't changing vase water. An arrangement sits in its own wet foam, so nobody hunts for a vase, and a splash of water every couple of days keeps it drinking.

A funeral notice with a chapel and a time on it, and you can't be there. The service might be at the Pettigrew Family Funerals chapel on Harris Street, Wallsend, or at Newcastle Memorial Park in Beresfield. Put the funeral director and start time in the notes, and order the day before a morning service, since same-day flowers land in the afternoon. Wreaths and sheaths go to the chapel, sympathy flowers for the home to the family. "Thinking of you all" is enough on the card.

Anna, on colour and faith

White and cream sit quietly in most chapels. Check the family's faith first, though. In my experience a Hindu family looks after the garlands itself, so flowers go to the home after the cremation, and plenty of Muslim families would rather none at the service at all.

No idea what they'd like, or no occasion at all, just a friend who's had a rotten week? That still counts, and thinking of you flowers say so without a speech. "No reason, just thinking of you" does the job on the card.

Anna has a pick for this one: the Rose, Gerbera & Lilies Bunch. The lilies open one bud after another, so the vase changes all week. Pinch the anthers off as each lily opens. Dry pollen bonds to fabric, and small hands always find it first.