UrbanStems is the best flower delivery service we’ve ever tested, and we’ve tried a lot

Prices are accurate at the time of publication.

When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.

• UrbanStems delivers affordable fresh and dried floral bouquets and plants (starting as low as $45).
• We named UrbanStems our best overall pick for flower delivery service after extensive testing.
• The company delivers all over the country and has same-day delivery options in select cities.

Ordering flowers is a curious shopping experience because you usually don’t get to see the final result to determine if the flowers met expectations for design, size, and longevity. We recently tackled this issue by sending 27 bouquets from 12 popular flower delivery services to 10 testers all over the country for our guide to the best online flower delivery services.

We’ve long been big fans of UrbanStems, but we really put the service to the test for this guide, sending bouquets, plants, and dried flowers to New York City, Boston, and rural Colorado. This was a big task for UrbanStems since our Colorado-based tester reports that most flower services don’t deliver to her small town, and if they do, the flowers usually arrive late or in bad shape from the long journey down unpaved roads. 

Despite the challenge we posed, UrbanStems delivered some of the freshest, most attractive bouquets to all our testers — on time and in excellent condition. All the arrangements were bright and lively, with creative blooms in a range of color palettes. For this reason, it earned the top spot as our best overall pick for flower delivery service. Here’s what we love about UrbanStems.

How it works

When you head over to the UrbanStems website, you’ll find a fantastic product selection spanning everything from fresh bouquets, dried flowers, gifts, plants, and subscriptions. All of the flowers and plants are sourced from sustainable farms, with which UrbanStems’ in-house floral designers collaborate to create unique bouquets. With prices that start at $45, UrbanStems is a relatively affordable option as well. 

UrbanStems’ website was also very easy to navigate. Filters allow you to sort by product type, occasion, price, color, and collection. When you navigate to the product page, it tells you exactly what flowers are in the bouquet (a must if you have pets at home for whom plants could be toxic) and the recommended occasion.

Once you’ve picked which bouquet you like, put in your desired delivery address and choose from the delivery date options listed. UrbanStems provides a calendar that shows which delivery dates are available, as well as notes when the bouquet will be back in stock if it is sold out. UrbanStems also suggests vases that complement each bouquet, should you want to spend a little extra to send a vase as well. 

Moving to checkout is simple. UrbanStems has you sign up with your email so they can inform you of the status of your order. Then all you have to do is fill out the delivery information and a cute note to go with your flowers. If you’re stumped, UrbanStems has some sweet prewritten options for you, but you can completely customize this part on your own.

Delivery options

If you live in New York City or Washington, D.C., you can receive same-day delivery on some bouquets. Otherwise, many products are available for next-day delivery to the lower 48 states, though you’ll have more options if you choose a delivery date at least a few days out. 

Our three testers all had a different experience with delivery options. Our New York City tester was able to quickly arrange next-day delivery for her Juliet bouquet, while our tester out in rural Colorado had to choose a date a little over a week out for her Luna. Despite having more limited delivery dates depending on location, all our blooms arrived on the day the company said they would. 

Our review of UrbanStems

Our testers took the opportunity to sample a wide arrange of products from UrbanStems. Between the three of us, we ordered The Juliet, a blend of bright orange and pink roses with spots of muted blue delphinium; the Luna, which features curvy veronica flowers and snapdragons in cool shades of purple and blue; and Double the Pink Champagne, a lush arrangement of roses and carnations in shades of pink. We also ordered the Claude from UrbanStems’ collection of live plants and the Aspen from its selection of dried bouquets. 

Just browsing the site was a fun experience for each of us. The arrangements are modern, playful, and gorgeous, and we each oo-ed and ah-ed at each other’s selections.

All of the products arrived on time in colorful pink boxes that built excitement. The bouquets were lush, vibrant, and lively. Our Colorado tester was particularly impressed with the quality of the blooms since she’s had bad experiences with flower delivery before. The Aspen dried bouquet was gorgeous, albeit a bit stiff compared to bouquets from our favorite dried flower brand. My Double the Pink Champagne arrangement was a bit more purple-y pink than the pictures on the site showed, but some variation is to be expected with fresh flowers, and the bouquet was still bright, vibrant, and full.

All the bouquets arrived with some closed buds; however, this is fairly normal, and they eventually opened up after a couple of days. The flowers lasted a little over a week — average for fresh-cut flowers, though a few days shorter than some of the other services we tested. 

What are your alternatives?

After testing 12 flower delivery services, we think UrbanStems is your best bet. However, it might not be the right choice for every situation.

If you need to send flowers the same day or to locations further afield than the lower 48 states, you may prefer a service like FTD, which uses local florists and offers services in all 50 states and 150 countries.

If you’re specifically looking for preserved or fresh roses, we recommend and Roses Only, respectively, for best results.

The bottom line

UrbanStems is our top choice for flower delivery service for its robust selection, flexible delivery dates, and beautiful blooms. We love that it delivers flowers on time and in great condition to even more remote corners of the lower 48 states. If you’re looking to gift flowers that your recipient will remember, UrbanStems is the best option.