Flower Delivery in Toronto and York Region: The Complete Guide

This guide covers flower delivery in Toronto and York Region from our side of the work bench: how an order gets from your screen to someone's front door, what it costs, how late you can leave it, and the small details that decide whether a bouquet arrives on the first try. Our studio is at 5 Headwater Crescent in Oak Ridges, at the north end of Richmond Hill. Every design we sell is made there by hand on the day it goes out, then driven to the address. We don't have a shop counter, and we don't pass orders on to another florist, so what's written here is how delivery actually works for us, with the real fees, the real cutoff and the real towns.

Planning ahead? Read it through. If the flowers have to go today, chapters 1, 3 and 6 matter most. Each chapter points to a shorter guide when you want more depth.

How delivery works here, from order to door

You pick a design, give us the address, a date and a delivery window, and pay by card. We make the flowers by hand in our Oak Ridges studio that day and drive them to the door, with your card tucked in and no prices in the box.

The order, step by step

1. Choose a design. Everything in the shop can go out the same day. Start in our same-day delivery collection.
2. Enter the postal code. Checkout measures the drive from our studio and shows the delivery fee straight away.
3. Pick a date and a window. Anytime, morning or afternoon. Dates can be booked up to 60 days ahead.
4. Write the card. Type it exactly as it should read, signature included. Leave your name off if it's meant to be anonymous.
5. Add the delivery notes. Buzzer code, unit number, a side door, the recipient's phone number. Chapter 6 covers what each kind of address needs.
6. Pay by card. Prices are in Canadian dollars, with 13% HST added at checkout. Your receipt goes to your email, never to the recipient.

Then it's our turn. The order comes straight to the studio and we design it from that day's flowers. If a stem isn't up to standard, we swap it for one of equal or higher value in the same colours, so what arrives still looks like what you picked.

What a delivery day looks like

The chart below lays out a weekday: when the studio opens, when each delivery window runs, and where the 1 pm same-day cutoff falls.

We can't promise an exact time inside a window, so if the flowers need to land before a lunch or a visitation, pick the window that ends well before it. Weekends are shorter days, and the windows shrink to match.

We're delivery only, so the studio isn't open for walk-ins or pickup.

For the hour-by-hour detail, our guide to how same-day flower delivery works walks through a real day. If you'd rather skip the browsing, text (437) 291-5605 from a Canadian number with a budget and who the flowers are for, and we'll suggest a few designs.

Where we deliver: every town and how far it is

We deliver anywhere checkout can book, which is up to 50 km by road from the studio. That takes in Richmond Hill and every town around it in York Region, Bradford and Keswick to the north, and most of Toronto to the south.

The drive, not the town name, sets the fee. This chart shows each town we have a page for, with its usual delivery fee, worked out from drives we measured to points across the town:

Close to the studio

Richmond Hill is home. Oak Ridges is under a kilometre from the studio, and the drive south to the streets below 16th Avenue is about 14.5 km. Aurora sits 8 to 12 km up Yonge Street. King City is about 8 km west, though King Township stretches out to Nobleton at about 19 km and Schomberg at about 32.

The middle ring

Newmarket runs from about 13.5 km at Yonge and Mulock to about 23 km at the far side of town. Stouffville is 18 to 20 km, out as far as Musselman's Lake. Markham is wide: Cathedraltown is about 12.5 km away, Markham Stouffville Hospital nearly 30 and Cornell about 31. Thornhill, on both sides of Yonge, is 20 to 27 km. East Gwillimbury starts at the Sharon Temple, about 25 km out, and runs to Mount Albert at about 35.

The long drives

Vaughan runs from Maple at about 15 km to Woodbridge at about 38. Bradford, across the Holland Marsh, is 35 to 37 km, Bond Head included. Keswick, on the Lake Simcoe shore, is about 43 km. Toronto is our biggest area and our longest drive: North York General Hospital is about 27 km away, Sunnybrook about 34, Union Station about 43 and High Park about 50, right on the edge.

Past the edge

The Etobicoke Civic Centre measured 50.6 km, just past the line, and most of Mississauga and Brampton is further still. Kleinburg, Sutton and Pefferlaw use their own postal codes, so check those at checkout. If an address comes up as too far, call us on (437) 291-5605 and we'll tell you straight away whether we can get there.

Florist's note: Sending to the west end of Toronto? Put the postal code into the checker on our delivery areas page before you fall for a design. Neighbouring postal codes can land on different sides of the 50 km line.

What delivery costs, and how to work out your total

Delivery is priced by the driving distance from our studio: $12 up to 10 km, $18 up to 20 km, $25 up to 35 km and $30 up to 50 km. Orders of $400 or more, before tax, are delivered free within 35 km, and 13% HST applies to the flowers and the delivery fee.

Same-day delivery costs the same as booking ahead, there's no minimum order, and nothing else is added besides delivery and tax.

Work out your own total

Flowers, plus delivery for the distance, plus HST on both. The calculator below works it out for any design and distance, starting on Heart and Wing, which comes in four sizes:

A few real totals, worked out from catalogue prices:

• Heart and Wing with 25 red roses, $110, to a street in Aurora under 10 km away. $110 plus $12 delivery is $122, plus $15.86 HST, for $137.86.
• The same bouquet to Sunnybrook, about 34 km. $135 with delivery, plus $17.55 HST, for $152.55.
• Black Tie, 100 red roses at $410, to Newmarket. Over $400 and inside 35 km, so delivery is free: $410 plus $53.30 HST, for $463.30.
• Black Tie to Keswick, about 43 km. Past 35 km, so the $30 fee applies: $440 plus $57.20 HST, for $497.20.

The free-delivery line counts the flowers before tax and after any discount code. It's measured by road, so a Keswick or Bradford address pays its usual fee even on a large order.

Why the fee shows up first

Checkout shows the delivery fee as soon as you enter the postal code. Some sites add delivery and handling charges on the last screen. The Competition Bureau calls this drip pricing, where mandatory fees make the advertised price impossible to actually pay. When you compare florists, compare the total with delivery and tax, not the number on the product photo.

Ontario's 13% HST applies to the delivery fee as well as the flowers.

One cost worth avoiding: if a delivery fails because nobody was available or the address was wrong, we'll contact you to arrange another attempt, and the second trip may carry a further delivery fee. Chapter 6 is how you avoid paying for the drive twice. Our delivery policy page keeps the fees, windows and cutoff in one place.

What the flowers themselves cost

Our designs run from $75 to $650 before delivery and tax. A dozen roses starts at $75, 25 roses at $110, 50 roses at $185 and 100 roses at $410.

This chart counts every design in the shop at its starting price, sorted into price bands, with a few examples in each:

What moves the price

Stem count does most of the work, especially with roses. Rose Ladder is 12 roses in a flat wrap at $75. Heart and Wing goes from 25 roses at $110 to 100 at $410. Peonies follow the same pattern: Peony Nest runs from $130 for 10 peonies to $505 for 50. At the top, Full Moon is 150 white roses at $550 and Wreathed in Pink is 150 pink roses with a flower rim and banner at $650.

Personal touches come next: fifty red roses are $185 as Heart and Wing and $210 as Initial in Bloom, which adds a floral initial. Banners, pearl pins and LED lights work the same way: they take time at the bench, and the price reflects it.

The third thing is the format. A hand-tied bouquet needs a vase at the other end. A vase or basket arrangement arrives ready to set down, which is kinder to a busy host, a hospital ward or a family that's just had bad news. Our vase arrangements start at $95.

Same-day favourites at every budget

Five designs from different points on the price range, each shown in the second photo from its product page, away from the studio backdrop: on a car seat, in someone's hands, by a window.

If you have a number in mind and no idea what it buys, our flower price guide goes through it budget by budget and occasion by occasion. Or go straight to flowers under $100 at one end and our luxury collection at the other.

Same day, next day or booked ahead

Order by 1 pm Toronto time and we deliver the same day, seven days a week. After 1 pm, the earliest date checkout offers is the next day, and you can book any date up to 60 days out.

When same day is the right call

Same day is for the things that can't wait: a birthday that slipped your mind, bad news from a friend, a thank-you that should land today. Earlier is better. The cutoff is 1 pm, but as the morning goes on, checkout stops offering windows that close too soon to promise, so an order at 9 am has more choice than one at 12:45. Our last-minute birthday ideas are written for exactly that morning.

When to book ahead

• The busy days. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and the week before Christmas are the busiest days of the year for florists. On the very busiest, our windows may be wider than usual. Book the date the moment you know it.
• Dates you already know. Booking ahead gets you the window you want, and because we make every order on the day, not the day before, an early booking doesn't mean older flowers.
• Funerals and visitations. Once you know the service time, book the morning window for that day.
• Offices. Book a weekday the office is open.

Weekends and short days

Saturday runs 9:30 am to 6 pm. Sunday runs 10:30 am to 3:30 pm, so its morning window is 10:30 to 1 and its afternoon window 1 to 3:30. The 1 pm cutoff is the same every day.

Winter

Snow slows every delivery in the region. Ontario's own winter driving advice is to check road conditions on Ontario 511 and delay a trip if the forecast looks bad. On a snowy day, choose Anytime rather than a narrow window, and if nobody will be home, send it to their workplace instead of a cold porch.

Florist's note: For a Sunday dinner, book the afternoon window and the flowers will be there before anyone sits down. For someone who works Sundays and gets home at six, send it Monday morning. The Sunday window closes at 3:30, hours before they're back.

Past 1 pm and it really has to be today? Call (437) 291-5605 and ask. We'll tell you honestly whether it can be done.

Getting the address right: homes, condos, offices, hospitals, funeral homes

The recipient's phone number solves most delivery problems before they start. After that, each kind of address needs one or two details in the delivery notes at checkout.

Hospitals

Check before you send, because rules differ by unit. University Health Network, which runs Toronto General, says flowers and plants are not permitted in patient rooms in any intensive care unit and asks visitors to check with the unit manager first. Under our terms, flowers sent to a place that won't accept them are treated as recipient unavailable, so a quick call to the ward is worth it. We deliver to hospitals across our area, including Southlake, Mackenzie Richmond Hill, Cortellucci Vaughan, Markham Stouffville, Sunnybrook, North York General, Toronto General and Mount Sinai. A vase arrangement saves the nurses a hunt for a vase; our get well flowers include several.

Funeral homes

Call the funeral home first to check they accept flowers and when the room opens. Then choose the morning window for an afternoon or evening visitation. These three suit a service or the family home, from a large white basket to a quiet bouquet:

The rest of our sympathy flowers go out same day too. For standing sprays, casket pieces or flowers for a memorial gathering, start on our funerals and memorials page or call us.

When nobody's home

If nobody answers, we may leave the flowers in a safe, shaded spot, with a concierge, reception or a neighbour, or contact you to agree on next steps. Once they've been left that way, the order counts as delivered. An absent recipient or a wrong address isn't grounds for a refund, which is why the notes matter.

Florist's note: If it's a surprise, say so in the delivery notes and put your own phone number on the order as well, so there's someone to reach about the delivery who won't give it away.

Choosing flowers by occasion

Start with who the flowers are for and where they'll sit, then colour. A bouquet for a lively kitchen, a vase for a hospital tray and a white basket for a funeral home are different jobs, even at the same price.

This table pairs each common occasion with what tends to work, one design to start from and the guide that goes further:

Pets, scent and the card

If there's a cat in the house, say so in the order notes and we'll design around lilies. The FDA warns that the whole lily plant is toxic to cats, down to the pollen and the water in the vase. We'd also skip strongly scented flowers like oriental lilies for a newborn's room, a small hospital room or a desk in an open office.

For the card, one or two sentences in your own voice beat a paragraph: the occasion, then the thing only you would say.

Made for a moment

Five designs built around a particular occasion, from a Happy Birthday banner to a heart wreath on an easel:

Still unsure? Browse the full shop by occasion, or call us and describe the person. "She likes purple and hates fuss" is plenty for us to suggest a design.

Sending from outside Canada or from another city

It works the same as ordering from down the street: order online, pay by card in Canadian dollars, and book before 1 pm Toronto time for same-day delivery. The hard part is the clock.

This chart shows what 1 pm in Toronto is in a handful of other cities today, so you know your real deadline:

Timing from another time zone

If 1 pm in Toronto falls in the middle of your night, don't set an alarm. Book the date ahead the evening before. From Vancouver or Calgary, the cutoff lands in your morning, so same day is easy over breakfast. For someone who leaves for work early, the afternoon window is safer than the morning one. For a parent who's home all day, Anytime gives us the most room.

Paying from abroad

Prices are in Canadian dollars and your card is charged in Canadian dollars. Your own bank does the conversion, and the amount on your statement will be a little different from the checkout total. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada found that currency conversion markups typically range from about 1% to 4% over the mid-market rate, built into the exchange rate rather than shown as a separate fee. If you travel or send money often, a card without that markup is worth having.

Getting in touch from overseas

Texts to our number only work from Canadian numbers, so from abroad, call (437) 291-5605 or email support@larisflorist.com. Our contact page has both. The recipient never sees the price, and your receipt comes to your email, not theirs.

Three ways to say it from a distance, from a soft mixed bouquet to a hundred roses with an initial:

Our guide to sending flowers to Toronto from abroad covers funerals from overseas and what to write when you can't be there.

When the flowers arrive: first-day care

Get them into water soon after they arrive: trim about 2 cm off each stem at an angle, strip leaves that would sit below the waterline, and use a clean vase of fresh water, away from heat, direct sun and the fruit bowl.

The first hour

A hand-tied bouquet has been on our bench and then on the road, so the stems want a fresh cut. North Carolina State Extension explains: recutting the stems removes damaged tissue that may no longer be carrying water to the flower, and leaves left below the waterline rot and spoil the water. They also say to keep the vase out of drafts and away from heating and cooling vents.

A vase arrangement is already in water, so don't take it apart. Top it up with fresh water every day, more than you'd think, especially in the first few days. Arrangements drink.

How long they'll last

This chart shows how long each flower usually lasts in a vase with fresh water, a trim every couple of days and a cool room:

Roses open a little more each day, which is normal. Peonies and some garden roses put on a shorter, more generous show. Carnations, chrysanthemums and lilies are the long-haul flowers.

Don't leave them in the car

Taking a delivered bouquet on to a party? Don't leave it in a parked car. A closed car in July gets hot fast, and a car in January can freeze them. The same goes for a porch in either season.

If something's wrong

If the flowers arrive damaged, or you receive the wrong order, contact us within 24 hours of delivery with your order number and clear photos. For damage, we'll offer a replacement bouquet of equal value or a full refund. A few stems still opening, or small differences from the photo, are a normal part of fresh flowers.

Florist's note: If a rose head droops on the first day, don't give up on it. Recut the stem and stand it in a few centimetres of warm water for an hour. It often lifts back up.

For the full routine, read how to make fresh flowers last longer, and if a bouquet has already let you down, why flowers wilt quickly lists the ten mistakes we see most.

Businesses, regular flowers and events

For flowers on a schedule, use Petal Post, our flower subscription. For a business with several spaces, a client gift list or an event, we quote each one separately. There's no price list and no minimum order.

Petal Post at home or at work

Petal Post comes in three sizes: Postcard, a small seasonal posy for a desk or counter; Letter, our full seasonal design; and Parcel, a statement arrangement for a lobby or boardroom. Choose weekly, every two weeks or monthly, with deliveries Monday to Saturday. Each one is a surprise design made from what's in season, so the vase never looks the same twice. Nothing is charged online: we call to go over the details and set up payment before the first delivery. It works as a gift too, for 3, 6 or 12 deliveries.

Offices and client gifts

A clinic reception counter and a two-storey lobby need very different flowers. Before we suggest anything, we ask about the light, the heating vents, how close people stand and who will top up the water. Photos of the spot help more than measurements do. For client and staff gifts, send us the names, addresses and card messages, and we book each delivery for its own date. Our corporate flowers page is where to start, and if you're planning December, read our corporate holiday flowers plan before November runs out.

These three arrive in their own vase or basket, ready to set on a counter without anyone hunting for a vase:

Weddings

Two to four weeks' notice is enough for most weddings. Saturdays between May and October go first, so if your date is one of those, get in touch as soon as it's set. Every wedding is quoted for its date and its pieces: the bridal bouquet, the wedding party, the ceremony and the tables. We plan by phone, so send your date and a few photos through our weddings page and we'll call.

Other events

Showers, proposals, grand openings and celebrations are quoted the same way. Tell us the venue, the date and a rough budget, so we can design to it instead of sending a quote you then have to cut back.

How to tell a real local florist from an order-gatherer

Some flower websites take your order and pass it to a shop near the recipient, which puts another business between you and the person making the bouquet. A real local florist can answer a few plain questions straight away.

• Where are you? A real street address, not a postal box. Ours is 5 Headwater Crescent in Oak Ridges.
• Who answers the phone? Call and ask a question about a design. The person on the line should know the flowers.
• What's the same-day cutoff? It should be one stated time. Ours is 1 pm, Toronto time.
• What's the total? Flowers, delivery and tax, before you pay.
• What if it arrives damaged? A written policy with a time limit. Ours is 24 hours, with photos.
• Are these your photos? Look for the same props, rooms and wraps across the site, not catalogue shots.
• Can I fix the card after ordering? When the florist taking the order is the one making it, a typo can be caught while the bouquet is still on the bench.

Our longer guide on choosing a reliable online flower delivery service goes through eight checks and what to do when an online order goes wrong.

Which guide next

Each of these goes deeper into one part of this guide:

Card messages, payment, rewards and subscriptions are all in our FAQ.

Frequently asked questions

How much does flower delivery cost in Toronto and York Region?

Delivery is priced by driving distance from our Oak Ridges studio: $12 up to 10 km, $18 up to 20 km, $25 up to 35 km and $30 up to 50 km. Orders of $400 or more before tax are delivered free within 35 km. HST of 13% applies to flowers and delivery.

What time do I need to order for same-day flower delivery?

Order by 1 pm Toronto time for same-day delivery, seven days a week, Sunday included. The earlier you order, the more windows checkout offers. After 1 pm, choose the next day or any date up to 60 days ahead.

Which towns do you deliver to?

Anywhere up to 50 km by road from our studio in Oak Ridges, Richmond Hill. That includes Aurora, Newmarket, East Gwillimbury, King, Stouffville, Markham, Vaughan, Thornhill, Bradford, Keswick and most of Toronto. Enter the postal code at checkout to see the exact fee.

Do you deliver to Mississauga and Brampton?

Most of Mississauga and Brampton is further than 50 km by road from our studio, past what checkout can book. Parts of Etobicoke sit right on the line. Call (437) 291-5605 and we'll tell you straight away whether we can get there.

Can I pick up flowers from your studio?

Not at the moment. We're delivery only, so the studio in Oak Ridges isn't open for walk-ins or pickup. Delivery starts at $12 for addresses within 10 km by road, and runs seven days a week, same day when you order by 1 pm.

What happens if nobody is home?

We may leave the flowers in a safe, shaded spot, with a concierge, reception or a neighbour, or contact you to agree on next steps. Add the recipient's phone number and where to leave them. A second attempt may carry another fee.

Is HST charged on flower delivery in Ontario?

Yes. HST of 13% is charged on the flowers and on the delivery fee. Prices in our shop are shown before tax, and checkout shows the full total, with delivery and HST, before you pay.

Can I send flowers to Toronto from another country?

Yes. Order online and pay by card in Canadian dollars; your bank handles the conversion. Book before 1 pm Toronto time for same-day delivery, or book the date ahead. From abroad, call or email rather than text.

What if my flowers arrive damaged?

Contact us within 24 hours of delivery with your order number and clear photos. We'll offer a replacement bouquet of equal value or a full refund to your original payment method. Stems still opening are normal, not damage.