I am not a huge fan of flowers. Not a big fan of getting them, and not a big fan of sending them. Flowers most certainly brighten many occasions, and can often make someone’s day, and I always appreciate getting them…

However, I suppose I am the kind of person that is sentimental in the sense that I like to have mementos of the past, something that I can hold on to. I am always sad when cut flowers slowly fade away into simply a memory. Therefore, I have always asked for potted plants or flowers. Recently, for my birthday, a friend of mine sent me a “Friendship Tree” from 1-800-FLOWERS.

The package arrived promptly and on time according to when it had been ordered. I received a very tall, narrow box, which was marked with instructions. The package had been handled inappropriately and had been overturned in shipment, when the box was clearly marked with which end must be up.

When I opened the box, there was a small tree inside. Because the package had been flipped over, there was dirt dislodged from the planting. The tree had been packaged very well, which reduced the amount of any sort of damage in shipment. A long stick had been placed in the pot, so even though the tree had been upside down, the stick prevented the tree from being broken or completely dislodged, and minimized the amount of dirt that was loosened from the root ball.

The tree was planted in a small plastic pot, with a burlap type material wrapped around the pot. The burlap was coated with a waxy, plastic material on the inside to prevent a water overflow, as well as to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance.

The tree is a Cypress Tree, measuring about a foot high. This species is very fragrant, with a spicy, minty essence, making for a wonderful aroma. The Cypress is an evergreen species, native to North America. If you are familiar with forestry or gardening, the Cypress is often used as an ornamental plant. It can grow to enormous sizes and live for an extremely long time. I felt that this was an appropriate choice of tree species as a gift, since it is long-lived, beautiful and fragrant.

Shortly after receiving this gift, I decided to see if the tree would need to be replanted, since the pot seemed quite small for the size of the plant. I carefully pulled the plant and the root/dirt ball from the pot, and it was quite evident that the root structure had been very crowded in the pot. I replanted the Cypress into a larger container, with dirt that had fertilizer in it.

I recommend this selection from 1-800-FLOWERS website. This seemed to be more of an obscurely placed item, rather than a flower arrangement. I think that more people would order this product if it were more obviously advertised.

Where-to-surf.com is an affiliate of 1-800 Flowers