Southern women are winning the war of the roses.
Florist Balclutha owner Margaret De Baugh said she had been a florist for more than 40 years, including the past 11 years in Balclutha.
All of the customers who had bought flowers for Valentine's Day tomorrow were men.
"Women don't send flowers here.''
She had owned flower shops in Auckland and Thames and about half of her Valentine's Day customers there were women.
She was bewildered why Balclutha women did not buy flowers for their men.
Jonell's Florist owner Jonell Johnson, of Oamaru, said 5% of her Valentine's Day clients were women.
New Zealand men were less demonstrative than men in other countries and consequently missed out on flowers.
She wished New Zealand men could show their feelings more so they could be given flowers.
"It would just be nicer.''
Joseph Jones Designer Florist Carley Jones, of Dunedin, said men accounted for about 70% of the customers buying Valentine's Day flowers in her shop.
Men needed to make more obvious hints about enjoying flowers to close the gender divide, she said.
If a woman bought a man flowers, both parties benefited, she said.
"There is no reason why you can't send a guy a dozen red roses - they'd love it - and the woman gets to appreciate it as well. It's a win/win - two birds with one stone.''
Jill Davie, of Dunedin, was bucking the trend yesterday and bought flowers in the shop to send to a man anonymously on Valentine's Day.
"I'm sending them to someone very special in Dunedin,'' she said.
Bloom Flowers co-owner Martin Rylev, of Queenstown, said men also accounted for 70% of his Valentine's Day customers.
The imbalance was widened because some men ordered flowers for up to three women and women only ordered for one man, he said.
The flower shop was being "bombarded'' with online orders.
"The internet keeps screaming at us with orders.''
Scores of orders were requested to be delivered yesterday so the flowers were given in public, rather than in private tomorrow.
"Some of the boys like to embarrass their girls,'' Mr Rylev said.
