Flowers for a new baby

This is one of the occasions where people most often get the timing and the place wrong. The gift itself is usually well chosen; what fails is the logistics.

Before sending to the hospital: ask

Many maternity wards and neonatal units don't accept flowers. The reasons make sense: pollen and scents in a space with newborns, and the risk of bacteria in vase water in special-care areas.

Before sending, check with the hospital or the family. If it isn't allowed, the fix is simple: send it to their home for when they get back. It's usually a better idea anyway, because the hospital room fills up with things that later have to be carried home.

Which flowers to choose

• Soft tones: white, pale pink, light blue, peach. This is the occasion where pastels really work.
• No strong scent. No tuberose or Oriental lilies near a newborn or a mother who feels nauseous.
• Gerberas, soft-colored roses, alstroemeria, daisies, freesias.
• No loose pollen: if you send lilies, have the anthers removed.

What to avoid

• Huge arrangements. There's no room, and later someone has to take it home in the same car as the car seat.
• Heavily scented flowers. It's the most common complaint.
• Only for the baby. The gift should include the mother: she's just been through something enormous, and usually every gift is baby clothes.
• Deep red, which isn't the right tone for the occasion.

What's appreciated most

After the first week, when the visits have stopped and the house is in survival mode. A bouquet that arrives on day fifteen, when everyone else has forgotten, is worth more than one more at the hospital on day one.

And if you can pair it with something practical (a home-cooked meal, a breakfast, something for the mother and not the baby), it becomes a different kind of gift altogether.

For the card

Two lines are enough: "Welcome, Tomás. Hugs to all three of you," or "For the mom, who did all the work." More examples in what to write on the card.