Tulips Delivery: How to Send Tulips in Russia
Tulips delivery with Pyat Tsvetov works like any bouquet order: choose a tulip bouquet in the catalogue, enter the recipient's address and card text, pay online, and the courier brings it to the door. We deliver across Russia; city delivery costs 500 RUB, and in Saint Petersburg delivery runs around the clock. Orders can be paid with foreign bank cards, so you can send tulips from abroad.
Our shops in Saint Petersburg have sold tulips since 2011, and the questions customers ask at the counter are almost always the same: which colour to choose, how many stems are right, whether tulips survive the trip, and why they keep bending in the vase. This article answers each of them in turn, then explains how to time a delivery for the busiest tulip day of the year, 8 March, and how ordering from another country works.
Which colour of tulip to send
Red tulips are the classic declaration of love and the most popular choice for partners and spouses. Pink tulips are softer and suit mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends; they say affection and gratitude without the romantic weight of red. White tulips mean respect and a fresh start, which makes them good for a teacher, a colleague, an apology or a congratulation on a new job or a new home.
Yellow tulips are where customers hesitate most. In older Russian tradition yellow flowers were associated with parting, and some people of the older generation still remember that, but for most recipients today yellow tulips simply mean sunshine and cheer. If the bouquet is for someone over seventy, we usually suggest mixing yellow with white or pink rather than sending an all-yellow armful.
Purple and dark burgundy tulips look elegant and slightly formal. Mixed colours are the safest option when you do not know the recipient's taste well: a bouquet of five or six shades always reads as spring and celebration, never as a message that could be misread.
How many tulips to send
In Russia, living flowers are given in odd numbers: 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 25 and so on. Even numbers are reserved for funerals and remembrance. This rule matters much more to Russian recipients than people abroad expect, so if you are sending tulips to family or friends in Russia, always choose an odd count. In large bouquets of more than about fifteen stems, most people stop counting, but older relatives may still notice.
Tulips are slender flowers, so a bouquet looks fuller than a single number suggests only from about fifteen stems upwards. Seven or nine tulips make a neat, modest gift for a colleague or a neighbour. For a birthday or 8 March, 15-25 stems look generous, and 51 or 101 tulips are the grand gesture for anniversaries and proposals.
If you are unsure, look at the bouquet photo in the bouquets catalogue rather than the stem count alone. Greenery, wrapping and the variety of tulip all change how big the bouquet looks in the recipient's hands.
Bouquets we can deliver
Do tulips survive delivery
Tulips travel well when they are packed upright, kept cool and delivered quickly, which is why short delivery windows suit them best. They are sensitive to heat: in a warm car or on a sunny windowsill they open fully within hours. In cold weather the opposite risk appears, and in a Saint Petersburg winter a few minutes of hard frost can damage the petals, so it helps if the recipient takes the bouquet indoors and unwraps it as soon as it arrives.
A tulip bouquet that arrives with closed or half-open buds is not a fault. Tulips are cut in bud precisely so they open in the recipient's home, and closed buds will usually last several days longer than flowers that are already wide open. Within a day in a warm room they will open and colour up.
The courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival, so the bouquet does not wait outside a door. If nobody is home, we agree a second delivery the same day or, with the sender's consent, leave the flowers with a neighbour or concierge.
Caring for tulips in the vase
The most common complaint in our shops is that tulips droop or twist the day after they are put in water. This is normal: tulips keep growing after they are cut, by a centimetre or more, and they turn towards the light. To keep them straighter, use a tall vase that supports most of the stem, and turn the vase a little each day if it stands near a window.
Use cold water and not too much of it, a few centimetres is enough, because tulip stems are soft and rot quickly if they stand deep in water. Trim the stems by 1-2 cm with a sharp knife before putting them in the vase, and remove any leaves that would sit underwater. Change the water every day or two and add a few ice cubes in warm weather.
Keep tulips away from radiators, direct sunlight and fruit bowls, since ripening fruit releases ethylene that makes petals drop. Do not put fresh daffodils in the same vase: their sap shortens the life of tulips. With this care, tulips last five to seven days, and sometimes longer in a cool room.
Tulips for 8 March and other busy dates
International Women's Day on 8 March is the biggest tulip day of the year in Russia. Men give tulips to wives, mothers, daughters and colleagues, and offices order them by the box. On 7 and 8 March every courier is on the road, so the most reliable approach is to order in advance: you can pre-order 1-30 days ahead and choose a time window of 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 or 18-21, or an exact time within plus or minus 30 minutes.
For ordinary days in large cities, express delivery takes 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed. In Saint Petersburg delivery runs around the clock, which helps when you are ordering from a different time zone and want the bouquet to arrive at breakfast or late in the evening local time.
Tulips also suit birthdays in spring, Mother's Day at the end of November, graduations and 1 September for teachers. In autumn and winter they bring a sense of spring, which is part of why they are so loved in a northern city like ours.
Ordering tulips from abroad
Many of our customers live outside Russia and send tulips to parents, partners and friends in Saint Petersburg and other cities. Payment is made online on the site by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay, and foreign bank cards are accepted through Robokassa. Delivery details are on the delivery and payment page.
Delivery is anonymous by default: the courier does not name the sender, so if you want the recipient to know who sent the tulips, sign the card. A card with your text is free. If the recipient reads Russian more easily, you can write the message in Russian. For delivery to suburbs and remote districts the operator confirms the delivery price when confirming the order.
If you have a question about the address, the timing or the bouquet, call us on 8 (812) 507-67-05. Pyat Tsvetov has three of its own flower shops in Saint Petersburg, on Ilyushina Street, Obvodny Canal Embankment and Srednerogatskaya Street. For timing tips on sending flowers to smaller Russian towns, see our guide to sending flowers to Nerekhta from abroad.
Frequently asked questions
How much does tulips delivery cost?
City delivery costs 500 RUB. For suburbs and remote districts, the operator confirms the price when confirming the order.
Can I pay for tulips with a foreign card?
Yes. Foreign bank cards are accepted via Robokassa. You can also pay by Russian bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay.
How fast can tulips be delivered?
In large cities express delivery takes 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed. In Saint Petersburg delivery runs around the clock.
Why do the tulips arrive in bud?
Tulips are cut in bud so they open in the recipient's home and last longer. In a warm room they open within a day.
How many tulips should I send?
In Russia living flowers are given in odd numbers, such as 7, 15 or 25. Even numbers are for funerals.
Ready to send a bouquet?
Pick a city, choose the flowers, and we will hand them over with a photo confirmation.
Choose a city →