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Buying flowers can be fraught. Do red roses say too much? Do white carnations say too little?

And that’s before you even get to the jaw-dropping price tags. We’re talking about flowers, not furniture — no matter how much cash you drop, they’re not built to last.

To see what we could get for our money, we visited five local flower shops anonymously and asked the florists to help us create a romantic arrangement with a budget of $85. Here’s what happened.

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(Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Caruso Florist

1717 M St. NW. carusoflorist.net.

When we arrived at this family-owned, century-old downtown shop and asked for a romantic bouquet to go, the florist made a beeline for the flower fridge and selected a classic collection of red roses, carnations and daisies, asking us our thoughts before adding a handful of roses to meet our budget. Though tax took it over our limit — the total was $90 — it was by far the largest arrangement we purchased. In fact, it was too large to cart home on the bus, so it’s been standing guard over the Features section at The Post. Caruso is an accessible option for nearby office workers, and custom bouquets are available, though they take more time and may require you to call in advance. Also worth noting: Of the five bouquets we bought, this was the only one that came with a vase. — Zoe Glasser

Surroundings Capitol Hill Garden Market

1023 East Capitol St. SE. (Entrance on 11th Street.) surroundings.bz.

Surroundings boasts one of the most attractive settings of any flower shop in D.C.: Its charming patio, full of plants situated around a fountain, looks across 11th Street SE at the expanse of Lincoln Park. And while known in the neighborhood for its landscaping prowess, Surroundings also sells a variety of plants, from succulents to bouquets of roses, inside its small, homey store. The helpful floral designer was quick to ask about the occasion, the recipient’s preferred colors and whether there were any kinds of flowers we didn’t want included. We threw a bit of a curveball when we said we wanted something romantic and colorful, without red or pink roses — a choice he actually commended us for. The result was a creative and complementary mix of sunflowers, puffy hydrangeas, yellow roses and orange-and-yellow tulips, and it was fun (for a novice) to watch the florist draw inspiration from the plants in buckets around the shop, even stopping to rewrap halfway through. Even better: The total for this crowd-pleasing, twine-tied bouquet was $67.68, including tax. — Fritz Hahn

BethMichaels Floral & Events Design

8375 First Ave., Silver Spring. bethmichaelevents.com.

Local flower shops are often true mom-and-pop operations, with the skeleton staffs to prove it. So when Ayobami Akindele got held up on a recent morning, that meant her store, BethMichaels Floral & Events in Silver Spring, didn’t open on time. But she was responsive enough to return a call and keep us updated on her timing via text. Once she arrived, we were welcomed into a fragrant wonderland of pastel flowers and sparkling vases. Akindele didn’t blink at our budget and quickly started pulling pale pink roses in response to our “romance” directive. “Because you had to wait,” she added several extra white roses to round out the bouquet, before wrapping and rewrapping the bunch and tying it with a pearl-dotted bow. We walked out with more than a dozen roses, plus accent flowers and a perfect amount of greenery — a total effect that looked far more expensive than its $84.80 price tag. — Ellen McCarthy

Azi Flowers

903 S. Highland St., Arlington. aziflower.com.

The quest to find a flower shop in Arlington proved, more than anything, the limits of online research. One store that appeared in a web search did not exist in real life. Another listed an Arlington address but was actually located in Centreville. A phone call to Azi Flowers confirmed its existence off Columbia Pike and helpfully guided us to the loading dock at the rear of a blue office building, where the outfit operates without a storefront. Most of Azi’s sales are done online. Still, the lack of frills proved beneficial: When told of our $85 budget, the man who greeted us responded, “I’ll do it for $75.” The selection — stored in plastic tubs and a couple of refrigerators — was small but lush. We walked away with a bouquet of eight citrus-colored roses, framed with greenery and brightened by pops of small purple flowers. After tipping — an “option” provided on the handheld credit card machine — the total came to $86.25. — Ellen McCarthy

Allan Woods Flowers

2645 Connecticut Ave. NW. allanwoods.com.

Allan Woods has been a community staple in the Woodley Park neighborhood for nearly five decades. The high-end flower shop is one of few in the area with a storefront, though, as its website proudly notes, much of its business comes from embassies and five-star hotels. The florist at Allan Woods ran down a thorough list of questions: budget, what kind of bouquet we were looking for, color preferences. We were asked when the flowers would be gifted (that afternoon, we said) and were told to store them somewhere cold in the meantime. We gave the florist creative freedom, and were out in under 10 minutes. The Allan Woods bouquet was the skimpiest of the five, with fewer flowers and more filler. But the bouquet was also made to last, with barely-budding clematis complementing the open pink and white roses. And for the store, our $85 arrangement was a relative bargain: Valentine’s Day bouquets on Allan Woods’s site run from $90 blooming azaleas to $525 rose hedges. — Sophia Solano

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