Flowers for a retirement

A retirement is an unusual farewell: you're celebrating something good while something that lasted decades comes to an end. The gift that works acknowledges both.

What works

• A large arrangement from the whole team. It's the standard option and it works: it's visible, it photographs well, and it's clear it was a group effort.
• A plant that will last for years. A bonsai, an orchid, a ficus. The message is crystal clear: "this goes on after here." For a retirement, it's probably the best symbolic gift there is.
• A guest book or an album with messages from everyone. It costs nothing, and it's the one thing the person will keep for twenty years.
• Something tied to what they'll do next: gardening, fishing, travel, music. It requires knowing them.
• Flowers plus something to toast with. Wine, champagne, whisky. The classic farewell format.

Which flowers

Formal but warm. Lilies, roses, gladioli in a tall arrangement, sunflowers if the person has a cheerful personality. Gladioli have the advantage of a meaning that fits the occasion exactly: strength of character and honor.

It's best to avoid all-white on its own, which in a tall arrangement reads as funereal, and red roses, which are out of place in a work setting.

What to write

What people remember most isn't the gift but the words. Three things that work:

• Name something specific: "Thirty-two years. Thank you for teaching every one of us who came through here."
• Recognize the craft, not the seniority: seniority just accumulates, craft is built.
• Leave the door open: "This is still your office whenever you want to stop by."

What to avoid is humor about age. It sounds funny around the table and a lot less so in writing, on a card the person is going to keep.

A logistics detail

If the arrangement is large, think about how they'll get it home. Someone who retires on a Friday afternoon and rides the bus home with a one-meter (three-foot) arrangement has a problem. A medium-sized arrangement in its own base, or simply delivering it to their home that same day, works better.