The Best Company to Send Flowers Internationally: A Florist's Checklist

The best company to send flowers internationally is the one that actually delivers in the recipient's city, shows you the final price with delivery included before you pay, accepts a payment method you have, and lets you talk to a real person about the address, time and card. Brand size matters far less than those four things. If your recipient is in Russia, or in one of the 54 countries and more than 1650 cities we cover, Turboflora checks every one of these boxes.

Below I will walk you through how a florist judges an international order: what to ask before you pay, which flowers survive the trip from the studio to the door in good shape, how to time the delivery across time zones, and how to write a card that reads well in another language. Use it as a checklist whichever company you end up choosing.

What makes a flower company good at international delivery

Start with coverage, not with pictures. Many websites show beautiful bouquets and only later, at checkout, tell you that the town your mother lives in is outside their delivery zone. A serious company publishes the list of countries and cities it serves. Ours is on the page Flower delivery abroad: 54 countries and more than 1650 cities, including the USA, the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Spain, Egypt, Germany and Canada. The page is in Russian, but country and city names are easy to recognise, and you can always ask us to find a city for you.

Next, look at how the price is built. A good company shows the bouquet price and the delivery cost together, so the number you see is the number you pay. For orders abroad on our site, the price on the country or city page is already converted to rubles and already includes delivery. For Russian cities, delivery within the city costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs the operator confirms the price when confirming the order, before anything is sent out.

Finally, check whether you can reach a human. International orders raise questions that a form cannot answer: a building with no number, a recipient who works night shifts, a card in two languages. We answer these on WhatsApp, and a manager can also send you a photo of the bouquet before delivery so you see exactly what arrives.

Questions to ask before you pay

Ask what happens if nobody is home. With us the courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival. If the recipient is not there, we agree a second delivery on the same day or hand the flowers to a neighbour or concierge, but only with your consent. A company that cannot explain this clearly will improvise on the doorstep, and that is how bouquets end up left in a cold stairwell.

Ask whether the delivery is anonymous. Some people want the surprise; others want the courier to say who sent the flowers. Our delivery is anonymous by default: the courier does not name the sender, and the card says whatever you write on it. The card itself is free, so there is no reason to skip it.

Ask how you can pay. Cards issued abroad do not work everywhere. On our site you pay online by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay. If your usual method does not go through, write to us before you give up on the order - it is better to sort this out a day early than an hour before the birthday.

Bouquets we can deliver

Bouquet of 1 yellow sunflowers

$13

Bouquet of 3 white roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Bouquet of 3 red roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Bouquet of 3 pink roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Timing across time zones

The most common mistake in international orders is the date. Moscow is several hours ahead of London and a whole working day ahead of California, so an order you place on the evening of the 7th may already be late for a birthday on the 8th. Always think in the recipient's local time, and if the date matters, order a few days in advance. We accept pre-orders from 1 to 30 days ahead, which is the calmest way to handle anniversaries, March 8 or New Year.

Inside Russia you have more flexibility. In large cities we can deliver within 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed, at an exact time give or take 30 minutes, or within a time window: 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 or 18-21. A window is usually the best choice for working people - pick the one when the recipient is surely at home, not the one that matches your own lunch break.

Holidays change everything. Around February 14, March 8 and the New Year, couriers are busiest and the most popular flowers sell out first. If you are sending to Russia for these dates, our guide to Russian New Year flowers explains what people expect on January 1 and why ordering early pays off.

Which flowers travel well and look right in another culture

Even with a short courier ride, some flowers hold up better than others. Roses, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria, carnations and eustoma stay fresh for a week or more with basic care. Peonies and ranunculus are gorgeous but open fast, so they suit a delivery to someone who will be home the same day. Tulips keep growing in the vase and bend towards light - lovely in spring, less tidy for a formal occasion.

Meanings differ between countries. In Russia an even number of flowers is associated with funerals, so a gift bouquet should have an odd number of stems: 5, 7, 11, 15, 25. Large bouquets of more than about 15 stems are an exception, as people do not count them. Yellow flowers are fine today, but older relatives may still read them as a sign of parting, so add another colour if you are unsure. Red roses say love; for a mother, a teacher or a colleague, soft pinks, whites and mixed seasonal bouquets feel more appropriate.

If you are choosing for a partner or a parent in Russia, our article on the best flowers for your wife goes into more detail on colours, sizes and what each choice says - most of the advice works for mothers and sisters too.

How to order flowers abroad with Turboflora, step by step

The process is the same as for a Russian city. Open the country or city page, choose a bouquet, enter the recipient's address and the text for the card, and pay online in rubles. The price you see already includes delivery to that city, so there is no extra line at the end. For orders within Russia, browse the bouquets catalogue, and the 500 RUB city delivery and the express and time-window options described above apply.

Give the courier everything a local would need: the full address with entrance and floor, a door code if there is one, and a phone number that the recipient will actually answer. Because the courier calls about 15 minutes before arrival, a wrong or switched-off phone is the main reason deliveries get delayed.

Keep the card short and personal. Two or three sentences are enough. If the recipient reads Russian better than English, you can write the card in Russian or in both languages - just send us the text as you want it to appear. A first name at the end is usually all the signature you need, unless the delivery is meant to stay a mystery.

After the flowers arrive: simple care tips to pass on

The best bouquet still depends on the first evening at home. Tell the recipient to trim the stems by 1-2 cm at an angle with a sharp knife, put them into a clean vase with cool water, and remove any leaves that would sit below the waterline. Leaves in water rot quickly and shorten the life of the whole bouquet.

After that, change the water every day or two and trim the stems again each time. Keep the vase away from radiators, direct sun and the fruit bowl: ripening fruit releases ethylene, which makes flowers fade sooner. With this care, a rose bouquet usually lasts 7-10 days, chrysanthemums and alstroemeria even longer.

A small message the next day - 'did they open?' - turns flowers into a conversation. It is one of the nicest things about sending a bouquet across a border: the gift lasts a week, and you get to share it the whole time. We deliver bouquets across Russia in 1–2 hours.