Sending Flowers to Russia from Poland: What You Need to Know
Every week we take orders from Polish phone numbers — people with family in Saint Petersburg, colleagues in Moscow, friends in Kazan who just had a baby or a birthday. The questions are always the same: will it actually arrive today, how do I pay without a Russian card, and what do I write in the address field. This guide answers all of it, straight from the shop floor.
How the Delivery Actually Works Across the Distance
Poland and Russia share no common logistics chain for fresh flowers, but that does not mean the sender has to manage any of it. Five Flowers operates its own courier network across Russia and handles the full route from our cold storage in Saint Petersburg to the recipient's door. The sender in Warsaw or Krakow places an order online or by phone, we cut and arrange the bouquet here in Russia, and a courier delivers it within one to two hours of the confirmed time slot. There is no international shipping involved on the flower side — the flowers never cross a border. What crosses the border is only the payment and the order information. This is the part that trips people up most often: senders assume they need to coordinate something complicated, when in reality the process is closer to ordering a pizza for someone in another city. The key variable is not geography but time zones. Saint Petersburg runs two hours ahead of Warsaw in winter and one hour ahead in summer. If you want flowers delivered at noon Saint Petersburg time on a Tuesday, you need to place the order by ten in the morning Warsaw time at the latest, ideally the evening before. Same-day orders placed before eleven in the morning Saint Petersburg time are almost always fulfilled. Orders placed after four in the afternoon Saint Petersburg time are scheduled for the following morning. Knowing this one timing rule prevents most of the disappointment we hear about.
Bouquets we can deliver
What Varieties Travel Well and Which to Choose
The flowers are arranged here in Russia, so there is no question of them surviving a long transit — they go from our refrigerator at four degrees Celsius directly into the courier's insulated bag and then to the recipient. What matters instead is choosing varieties that hold well in a vase, because the recipient might not put them in water immediately. Roses are the most reliable: a well-conditioned stem of a garden rose like David Austin varieties or a standard spray rose will stay open and fresh for seven to ten days with basic care. Eustoma, which many people know as lisianthus, is another excellent choice — the multiple buds on each stem mean the bouquet keeps opening over several days, which recipients genuinely appreciate. Chrysanthemums, both the large-headed and spray types, are among the longest-lasting cuts available and work well in mixed arrangements. Peonies are seasonal, available from late May through July, and they are extraordinarily popular in Russia for birthdays and celebrations — if you are ordering in that window, they are worth considering. What we advise against for recipients who live alone or travel frequently is tropical foliage-heavy arrangements: birds of paradise and anthuriums are dramatic but need consistent warmth and are less forgiving of a cold hallway. Tulips are a spring staple in Russia and very affordable, but they have a shorter vase life of four to five days and are sensitive to heat above eighteen degrees. If the recipient's home runs warm, roses or eustoma are the safer bet regardless of season.
How to Write a Russian Address Correctly
This is the single most common source of failed deliveries from international senders. Russian addresses follow a specific order that is opposite to what most European countries use, and our couriers need the full string to locate the door. The correct format starts with the city, then the district if relevant, then the street name, then the building number, then the apartment number. In Russian postal convention a building can have a main number and a corpus — a secondary block number — written as a slash or the abbreviation k. For example: Saint Petersburg, ulitsa Lenina 14 k.2, apartment 37. If you write only the street and building number without the apartment, the courier will call the recipient, which sometimes spoils the surprise. We strongly recommend asking the recipient's address in advance under a neutral pretext, or asking a mutual contact. If the building has a door code or an intercom code, include it in the order comments field — couriers in Saint Petersburg regularly encounter buildings where the intercom does not list names, only flat numbers, and the code is the only way in. For recipients in gated residential complexes, which are common in newer Saint Petersburg neighbourhoods, include the name of the complex if you know it. Finally, confirm whether the recipient will be home during the delivery window. Russian recipients are accustomed to calling ahead being part of the process, but if the order is a surprise, note that in the comments and our courier will use a cover reason for the call.
Payment Options for Senders Based in Poland
Payment from Poland is straightforward but requires knowing which methods are available. Five Flowers accepts international Visa and Mastercard cards through our website checkout, which handles currency conversion automatically — you will see the charge in Polish zloty or euros depending on your card settings, billed at the current exchange rate. The order total is shown in roubles on the site, so use a card with low foreign transaction fees to avoid surprises. Google Pay and Apple Pay linked to European cards work on our mobile site and are often the fastest option for senders who want to complete the order in under two minutes. Bank transfer is possible for larger orders but adds processing time of one business day, so it is not suitable for same-day or next-day delivery unless you contact us by phone to confirm. We do not accept PayPal for orders to Russia. One thing Polish senders sometimes ask is whether the recipient will be charged anything at the door — the answer is no. The full amount is paid by the sender at the time of order, and the courier delivers without any cash exchange. If you want to add a gift card with a handwritten message, that is included in the order form and costs nothing extra. Write the message in Russian if you can, or in English — our team will transliterate or translate short dedications on request, just note it in the comments. Avoid very long dedications over fifty words as the card format limits space.
Timing Your Order Around Russian Occasions
Russia has several celebration dates that Polish senders may not be aware of, and knowing them helps you choose the right moment and avoid the last-minute rush. The eighth of March, International Women's Day, is the biggest flower holiday in Russia by volume — it eclipses Valentine's Day entirely in terms of orders, and demand peaks from the sixth through the eighth. If you are sending to a woman in Russia on or around that date, place your order at least two days in advance and specify a morning delivery window, because afternoon slots fill quickly. The twenty-third of February, Defender of the Fatherland Day, is a male celebration equivalent and a common occasion for sending flowers to men, which is more culturally normal in Russia than in many European countries. New Year in Russia is celebrated on the first of January and is the primary winter holiday — Christmas falls on the seventh of January by the Orthodox calendar, and some families celebrate both. Birthdays remain the most common reason for international orders year-round, and here timing is simple: confirm the recipient's schedule for the day, pick a two-hour delivery window when they will be home or at work, and place the order the evening before. For workplace deliveries, Russian offices are typically open nine to six on weekdays, and deliveries to offices work well because someone is always at reception. Weekend office deliveries are only possible if the recipient confirms the building will be staffed.
What to Check Before You Confirm the Order
Before you hit the confirm button, run through this checklist — it takes two minutes and prevents the majority of issues we troubleshoot after the fact. First, verify the recipient's phone number is a current Russian mobile number. Our couriers call ahead, and a disconnected or foreign number means the delivery cannot proceed. Russian mobile numbers start with plus seven followed by ten digits. If you only have the recipient's Polish or other foreign number, note that in the comments and we will use it as a secondary contact, but a Russian number is required as the primary. Second, check the delivery date against the time zone difference one more time — write out the local times in both cities to be sure. Third, read the address field back to yourself and confirm it includes city, street, building, corpus if applicable, and apartment number. Fourth, if the bouquet includes any flowers the recipient might be allergic to — this comes up with lilies most often, as their pollen is potent — note the allergy in the comments and we will substitute or remove the stamens before delivery. Fifth, check that your payment card is enabled for international transactions; some Polish banks block foreign e-commerce charges by default and require a quick confirmation in the banking app. Sixth, save the order confirmation number you receive by email. If you need to adjust the delivery time or add a note, that number is how our team finds your order instantly. Orders without a reference number take longer to locate during busy periods.
Sending flowers from Poland to Russia is genuinely simpler than most senders expect once you understand that the flowers themselves never cross a border and the main variables are the address format, the time zone, and the payment method. The shop floor reality is that orders from Polish numbers go through without any special handling — the process is identical to a domestic order placed from Moscow or Novosibirsk. What makes the difference between a smooth delivery and a frustrated phone call is the quality of the address and the accuracy of the delivery window. Get those two things right, choose a variety that suits the season and the recipient's home, and the bouquet will be at the door within the hour you specified. We deliver bouquets across Russia in 1–2 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Which flower varieties hold up best for delivery to Saint Petersburg or Moscow when ordered from Poland?
Roses are the default choice for good reason — a properly conditioned stem lasts seven to ten days in a vase. Chrysanthemums and alstroemeria are close behind and cost less per stem, making them practical for larger bouquets. Avoid open garden roses or ranunculus if same-day delivery is uncertain; they drop petals quickly once out of refrigeration.
How do I write a Russian address correctly when placing an order from a Polish phone or computer?
Russian address order runs city first, then street, then building number, then apartment number — the reverse of Polish convention. Write it as: Sankt-Peterburg, ulitsa Lenina, dom 12, kvartira 45. If you have the address only in Latin letters, include both versions or call us to confirm the Cyrillic spelling before the order is dispatched, since couriers navigate by local signage.
Can I pay for a Russian flower delivery using a Polish Visa or Mastercard?
Yes. Five Flowers accepts international Visa and Mastercard issued outside Russia, including Polish cards. Enter the card details at checkout the same way you would for any European online purchase. If your bank flags the transaction as foreign, approving it once is usually enough — the charge processes in the currency shown at checkout without hidden conversion fees on our side.
What bouquet sizes and price points make sense when sending from Poland to a city like Kazan or Moscow?
A standard bouquet of fifteen roses starts at a price point comparable to what you would pay at a Warsaw florist, but the arrangement is made and delivered inside Russia. Larger compositions of twenty-five stems or mixed bouquets with premium varieties run higher. For a birthday or new baby occasion, most senders from Poland choose the mid-range option — fifteen to nineteen stems — which photographs well and fits through a standard apartment door.
How far in advance should I place an order from Poland to guarantee same-day delivery in Russia?
Orders placed before noon Moscow time qualify for same-day delivery in Saint Petersburg and Moscow on most days. For cities further east — Kazan, Yekaterinburg — confirm the cutoff when ordering, as courier schedules vary by region. If you are working across time zones from Warsaw, factor in that Moscow is two hours ahead, so a mid-morning call or online order from Poland still lands comfortably within the same-day window.
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