Say you and your significant other have been dating for a few months and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. When thinking of a present to buy for your other half, nothing comes to mind, so you decide to ask them.

Although you assume they may say something along the lines of, “Oh you don’t need to get me anything,” or “Being with you is a gift in it of itself,” what they actually say is a long list of materialistic items that’ll keep them satisfied for the remainder of this short month. 

Since the season of love and affection is upon us, more thought comes with getting gifts for the ones we care about. For many, the first gift idea that might come to mind could be chocolate, candy, stuffed animals, or something even more pricey. 

However, one gift seems to have been forgotten and deemed invaluable: flowers. Although pretty, teenagers may view flowers as generic or overdone. 

As now, people aren’t looking for fragrant roses on the day of love, they want something more niche and curated to their mundane interests. 

The act of giving flowers to your loved ones as a gift dates back to the times of ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, where flowers would be used as offerings in temples. Over time, the flowers grew to be used for more than just contributions to a higher power, as people could be seen giving flowers to the “pretty women” of their time period. 

Though in more present times, flowers are used for less primitive reasons of impressing an attractive person, the underlying reason for gifting flowers still stands. When a person gives flowers to another, they want to build an emotional connection.

Yes, getting someone one of the many pricey gifts off their meticulously-crafted wish list may bring great joy, there is no thoughtfulness behind this. Sure, you may have spent a pretty penny on something you overheard your partner say once, but where is the sentimental value in that?

 According to About Flowers in a valentine’s day floral statistics study, only 28% of American adults purchased flowers as gifts for Valentine’s Day. Though low, in a separate study done by Anthony Quirky titled “Flower Shop Statistics” on the Hana Software website, more than 60% of all flowers purchased are for the person who actually bought them. 

Clearly people desire flowers, so why is no one receiving them? Well, as many of you have been thinking this entire read, flowers die. 

Though this factor turns a multitude of people against flowers, there are some possible techniques to help guide you through your new flower-loving journey. 

For one, you could attempt to take care of them. Leaving them in the same old vase with the same rotten water actually isn’t as helpful as you may have assumed. 

If this literal approach did not convince you to become a newly profound flower lover, there is an alternative. A more poetic or philosophical perspective on the matter would be the idea of value.

As an old saying goes that many of us seem to have forgotten, it’s the thought that counts. 

Yes, the flowers die, that’s inevitable, but it’s also part of the gift. The flowers aren’t supposed to last forever; that would take away the meaning behind the gift. The sentimental aspect of it is that someone thought of you while carefully selecting an assortment of flowers to gift you.