Is that you, anxiously looking at your watch as you wait to be served at the flower shop the day before Valentine’s Day?Wish you’d gotten yourself organised instead of spending your lunch hour amid the frenzied scrum of last-minute buyers who, like you, nearly forgot February 14 was just around the corner?While your wife or girlfriend may argue you’re to blame for your own stressful situation, Demco has finally come up with a way to ease your pain: online flower buying.Just five minutes of your time and the click of a few buttons is all it will take for the Devonshire florist to deliver the perfect bouquet to the woman in your life. You don’t even have to leave your office.“Over the years, we see the same guys lined up,” said Demco owner Carmen Phillips of the annual pre-Valentine’s scramble.“I say to them, ‘Weren’t you here last year at this time? Wasn’t February 14th the same date last year?’ And the sad thing is they look so miserable.“All we put in the flower fridge on the 14th is Valentine’s arrangements ready to go. They don’t have to make any choices; they don’t have to point at flowers; the arrangements are all lined up and ready to go.“But if there’s 50 people in the shop and five of us serving, then I’m afraid it’s going to involve some standing around and waiting.“The great thing is this year they don’t have to do it. There’s no need to rush around on Valentine’s Day because, up to the day before, you can go to the website and order it in five minutes. We will deliver it.”Relief, then, for those able to remember Valentine’s Day is approaching. But what about those men who only realise the big day has arrived when they see the disappointed scowl on their significant other’s face?“We have men in here, literally, at five o’clock on Valentine’s Day,” said Mrs Phillips.“We tell them to say, ‘Honey, I wanted to give you the flowers myself rather than delivered.’ We coax them all the time, ‘Here’s what you have to say because if you don’t say that she will be mad.’“It compromises our feminine conscience, but we take the side of the guys because we don’t want to get them in trouble. We are constantly offering them female advice to keep them out of trouble.”Men benefit from such feminine tips all the year round, with Mrs Phillips explaining: “When they want to buy flowers, we ask them if they’re in the doghouse, or is it ‘just because’, or is it a birthday or anniversary?“Then they laugh and we give them a standing order form so they don’t have to worry. The women in their lives would appreciate that. At the end of the day, it’s about happy wife, happy life.”Mrs Phillips’ feminine conscience is clear when it comes to advice for men claiming they’re buying flowers on a tight budget.“Love is recession proof,” she said.“On this day, you can’t think of the price, you have to think of the recipient. While most women are grateful to receive anything, if you are going to make the effort to think about the person you are sending it to, it’s going to go a lot further.”The choice of flower depends on the recipient. While traditionalists may prefer 12 long-stem red roses, more contemporary women may enjoy elegant alternatives such as phalaenopsis or cymbidium orchids. Rainbow roses, on the other hand, offer multiple, vibrant colours in a single rose for the adventurous.“Roses are the man’s idea for love and romance and still make you smile. The orchids are long-lasting, elegant and delicate, like love should be,” said Mrs Phillips.“If you send your very refined wife multicoloured roses, she might look at you and say, ‘What were you thinking, don’t you know me better than this?’“But on the other hand, your 21-year-old girlfriend may prefer a multicolour because they are fun, they are lively.”Even a teenager with a $20 budget can make Valentine’s Day special as long as they have a bit of imagination, with options including a single rose, plush toys, stuffed animals and singing balloons.Meanwhile sweetheart compact vases are relatively inexpensive gifts which a little boy could give to Mommy in addition to flowers from Daddy.And women can get in on the act by buying chocolates, more ‘manly’ flowers and bottles of wine for their men.“It’s about the recipient and it’s about love,” said Mrs Phillips.“It’s about showing and expressing gratitude for the love that the person gives you throughout the year, which of course includes women to men.“Don’t rush around. It does not have to be stressful. It makes us laugh, but we would rather make it easier for them; they can save their energy for Valentine’s night.”To buy flowers online or for more information, visit www.demco.bm.