Balloon — Guatemala

Six delivery days a week, Monday to Saturday

That gives you the day itself, not the nearest one available, for anniversaries, birthdays and the flowers you send because someone had a hard week. An order that comes in too late for the day's run is delivered on the next date you choose at checkout. As for what goes into it, arrangements are made with what is freshest that morning; if a flower is not available, the florist substitutes one of equal or greater value in a matching style, so the bouquet holds its shape and its colour even when a single stem changes.

What to put in the address line

The country uses a five-digit postal code - 01001 is Zone 1 of the capital - and it belongs in the address along with the street and the zone. Then two things that decide whether the delivery lands first time. Include the recipient's local phone number, which the florist uses to confirm availability and pin down the exact address, and add the door code at checkout if the flowers are going to an apartment. If nobody is home when the driver calls, the florist will usually ring the recipient or arrange to come back.

The bunch that arrives, and what else can go with it

Over 100 flower arrangements are ready to send, most of them in the local shape: densely packed, strong on colour, with tropical and mixed-colour stems, hand-tied and wrapped in cellophane or paper, usually finished with ribbon. Roses, carnations, gladiolus, chrysanthemums, gerberas, lilies and alstroemeria are the stems you will recognise, with xate - the Chamaedorea palm - ferns and eucalyptus for greenery. Plants, Gift Baskets, Chocolates and Balloon add to a bouquet when the flowers alone feel like half a gift.

Where Guatemala's flowers grow, and the customs around them

Roses, gladiolus, chrysanthemums, carnations and gerberas are grown in the country, with the highland departments of Chimaltenango and Sacatepéquez, along with Sololá and Quetzaltenango, doing most of it. Field-grown flowers are most abundant in the dry season, roughly November to April, while the rainy months lean more on greenhouse production, and much of the trade moves through La Terminal market in Guatemala City. Roses are the common gift for Mother's Day and for romantic occasions. White flowers and large wreaths (coronas) are the conventional choice for a funeral, with gladiolus and lilies commonly used in the arrangements.

How to order for the dates that matter most

Mother's Day (Día de la Madre) falls on May 10 every year and is one of the biggest flower-buying days in the country. It is the exception to the usual schedule: florists open for the big flower days, so your order can arrive even when the date falls on a Sunday, and around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day it is worth ordering at least 48 hours ahead. On All Souls' Day (Día de los Difuntos, or Todos los Santos), November 1, flowers and especially marigolds are placed on graves. Holy Week (Semana Santa), the week before Easter Sunday, brings flowers for processions and church decoration, and at Christmas (Navidad), December 25, poinsettias and seasonal arrangements decorate the house.

Paying in your own currency from anywhere

You are in one country and they are in another, which is the whole reason the flowers are worth sending. Sending from abroad changes nothing at your end: the order goes in online, and the arrangement is made and delivered locally. Someone mid-journey is the one case that defeats it - an airport, a bus terminal or a cruise dock leaves the driver with no door and nobody to sign. Send to their hotel, office or home address instead, timed for after they arrive.