A & S Whitestone Nursery

There are better florists than this place. I rented feather table arrangements for my daughter’s Sweet 16 a few weeks ago and purchased several other items — totalling almost $ 1,500. When I went to pay my balance prior to the event, the older woman at the front desk hit me up for a $ 200 delivery and setup fee — to a local caterer a few blocks away. This was never mentioned to me when I placed my order nor was it on my sales slip. ‘Fine’ I said and paid the extra money. The day after our event, the older woman called to say one of our arrangements was missing when her driver came to pick them up and practically accused me of stealing it. She said I should check with my guests and get back to her because ‘they are very expensive arrangements’. I asked her to check with the caterer — she snapped ‘No, it wasn’t them. I’d hate to ask them to check the videotape in their camera so that’s why I’m calling you to check with your guests.’ I replied ‘Go ahead — check the tape. I’ve got nothing to hide. Let me know what you find out’.
I have yet to get a call back — 10 days later.
Very poor customer service. Do yourself a favor and take your business elsewhere.

I was referred to A & S Whitestone Florists by Cascon Bakery after presenting a cake design for my wedding that incorporated fresh flowers. They teamed up to make the most amazing looking cake you’ve ever seen. I wish I could post a picture to this review, because I’m sure anyone reading this doesn’t understand just how beautiful it was.
My bouquet was so beautiful too. I wish I still had it, but the venue, Terrace on the Park in Flushing threw it out after telling me to pick everything up the following day. (Their review won’t be anything like this one.) I’m so disappointed to not have that beautiful bouquet.
They also designed the alter for my ceremony. I sent some photos of what I liked to the owner, Ann for inspiration and she designed something so beautiful out of twigs. I was so happy with all of the décor.
Thanks so much for helping to make our wedding beautiful.

Happened to swing by here because we had to find something nearby while in the immediate area. I always have high-​hopes for ‘nurseries’ because they really truly are supposed to be the experts in all things flowers and plants. I did a quick overview of the Unilocal reviews and popped in for some flowers.
Quality/​Freshness
I noticed many plants out in the front, weren’t in their peak. Some browned and wilted leaves on plants. Inside, their flowers were generally OK but definitely some less-​than-​ideal. There was an overall feel of disorganization and the flower fridge wasn’t all that appealing. I love beautiful flowers but just the overall presentation turned me off. And there are no prices listed for flower stems — that makes it a bit tricky when pricing a bouquet.
Staff/​Service
The owner was OK. Asked me once in passing if I needed something then proceeded to sit behind the counter, busying herself on her cellphone. There was a younger woman in her 30s, perhaps the daughter. She was just sort of — meh. Sort of half-​assed attitude, and just matter-​of-​fact enough for you to be offended. She was busy taking photos of arrangements on her iPad and didn’t rush to serve us. She was however, very quick to walk to the register to take my money when it was time to ring me up. A middle-​aged hispanic hire was the one who helped me with my selections. The only one really doing any real work — she was helpful and nice. I made my own selection of flowers for a bouquet because I had to work around the fact that many things didn’t look so great. (I literally mixed and matched different flowers pretty much solely based on whatever was not yellowing, browning and/​or withering.) Roses — definitely not. Pre-​arranged bouquets — pricey.
Pricing
Generally seems a bit higher — or atleast — higher than what I would have liked for the product and experience I was getting.
So. Nothing was terrible. But nothing wonderful either. And given the other options available in the Whitestone/​Bayside area — I won’t be returning.

Based on the good reviews here I decided to surprise my best friend on her birthday with a beautiful bouquet. I order it online on a tuesday, scheduled for a Thursday delivery. When I had not heard anything from my friend on the day of her birthday, by 6pm I gave her a call. She said nothing had been received, she had been home all day. I call the store to find out the issue. First I’m put on hold for a few minutes. Clear indicator they screwed up and are trying to figure out a reason to justify the matter. The woman comes on the phone and tells me it was delivered that morning. Interesting. To what address? After getting the driver on the phone, he confirms he was nowhere near that area at all that day. Great. So put the liar back on the phone llease. Then she proceeds to tell me I had never placed the order. Lie again. I can screen shot the email you guys sent me as a confirmation. Enter the woman’s mumbling now… at this point I’m livid. How about you admit you screwed up and help me resolve the matter. Then she proceeds to blame it on whoever is in charge of online orders, who conveniently happened to be gone for the day. When I told her to tell whoever that may be to go ahead and cancel the order, she seemed almost surprised. Really lady? First you try to blame me for your wrong doings then it’s a surprise when I want to cancel the order.
Never attempting anything from here. Good riddance! Work on your costumer service game.

I’ve been here a handful of times the past few years, and the last time a few weeks back was the absolute last straw. Every time I’ve come in asking questions, you know, like a normal person who may not know a thing about flowers, the same lady behind the counter looks at me like I’m an idiot and addresses me as such.
This time I was purchasing 2 roses that I was going to use to brew beer. I honestly didn’t know where else to buy flowers in the area besides this shop. Next time, I’m definitely going to try my best to find a different spot and avoid the rude and judgmental service here
I asked for the roses, she said it’d cost $ 10. I handed her my credit card and she gives me a dirty look and says very rudely, «$ 10.on that?! We have a $ 20 minimum here.» Like alright lady, I see the credit card sign on your door and there is no sign in your store that says there’s a damn minimum, let alone a $ 20 at a flower shop. I apologize and give her cash, she then rings me up and charges tax on top of the original $ 10 she asked for, so it ends up being $ 10.89. At this point I just wanted to get the heck out of there before I exploded. All she had to do was mention it nicely and not treat me like an ingrate for trying to pay with my credit card.
Totally uncalled for with the rudeness. Do yourself a favor and find your flowers elsewhere. Better yet, be green and pick some out of your neighbor’s garden and don’t tell them! They probably won’t even notice!

I ordered a small arrangement from here for my husband’s grandmother’s funeral, on behalf of my family. The woman who answered the phone was extremely helpful. I was unsure of how all of this worked, if they accepted the arrangement for the wake, or just for the funeral, and also what type of arrangement to have. The woman actually called the funeral home for me to find out when they were accepting flowers. I gave her a price range, and with the taxes and fees she got me just $ 0.75 over my budget. And she left the arrangement up to the designer. I called on Sunday, and the wake was on Monday, the flowers were there when we arrived. The arrangement was perfect and just lovely. I would definitely use them again. Their customer service was wonderful, and their flower arrangement was beautiful. Highly recommended.

Last weekend I married my best friend. We planned the wedding in 10 days because my mother is very ill and asked us to wed. We had already been dating for 5.5 years, and always planned on getting married, so we very willingly obliged and got to work on booking the venue and vendors. After securing a catering facility and finding «the dress», A&S Whitestone Nursery was our first stop. I hadn’t even picked bridesmaids dresses, but I had an idea of what I wanted our color scheme to be; purples and cream. Ann, the owner, first had me look through her previous floral design work to see if anything piqued my interest. There were dozens of photos, all depicting incredible bouquets and centerpieces in a rainbow of colors. I chose a few that really stood out to me, and showed them to her, along with some photos from the internet. She carefully listened to my ideas, while very gently suggesting what would look best. She is the professional after all! It saddened me that my own mother couldn’t be with me to help choose something so important for my special day, but Ann was a fantastic replacement. She talked to me much like my own mother would, and made me feel comfortable from the very beginning! Obviously I had never planned a wedding before, so I didn’t know what it entailed exactly, but Ann was sure to cover all the bases and asked (not demanded!) if I wanted certain things included, like corsages for my «Gudmadda»;) (Godmother), petals to throw upon exit of the church, flowers for the blessed Madonna, etc. She was so helpful, and not pushy at all like most vendors in the wedding industry can be. I truly felt like she wanted it to be as special a day as we did, not trying to upsell me anything that was unnecessary. After we decided what pieces were to be included, we talked about different flower types, and she showed me many varieties she already had in house, and described others that she would get for us. It was a concerted effort, I felt included in the process the entire time. We made all the final decisions and she wrote up the bill. which was very reasonable! I’ve heard from many of my friends how much their flowers cost, and the price wasn’t bad for all that we got. Remember, you are paying for quality, professionalism and years of experience. If you want to be cheap, it will show. Anyway, that was 8 days before our wedding, and 2 days before it I called Ann in a panic. Were the flowers going to match the dresses? What were the exact colors? Can she add one more corsage? Ann assuaged all my worries, and very patiently explained that everything was going to be fantastic. She also said I could stop by the day before, and she would show me everything put together, so if I wanted to change anything I could. I called her the day before and told her I couldn’t make it, I was just too busy. She was able to send me pictures of everything, and I immediately was relieved. They were incredible! But the pictures didn’t even do them justice. When the delivery arrived the next morning, I was completely blown away. The flowers were just extraordinary! I can honestly say they were better than I could have ever imagined. All my girls loved them, even the photographer was amazed at how lovely they turned out to be. And I hadn’t even seen the centerpieces yet. All I can say is that when I walked into the reception room, my eyes teared up. I’ve never seen such gorgeous arrangements anywhere else in my life. They truly MADE the room. They were the star. Throughout the day and into the next, I had so many people come up to and call me to rave about the flowers, and ask where the florist was located. All of them were taken home, with one very special centerpiece going to my husband’s father’s grave, and a couple others to a local cathedral for the altar. I can’t thank Ann enough for adding so much beauty to my wedding day. What could have been a very sad day, turned out to be the happiest of mine, my husband’s and my mother’s lives. She said cancer «had the day off,» and she laughed and danced the whole day. It was very truly a fairy tale, and that’s in large part due to Ann’s discerning eye and flair for the spectacular.
P. S. I must mention that my mother, who is very ill and can’t get out of the house much besides going for treatments, also called Ann the day before to send flowers to my aunts who helped me put the day together, and a gorgeous bouquet to me the day of the wedding. All were equally as beautiful, and my mother said she spoke and laughed with Ann for a while, and told me she was a very special lady. I can’t help but agree wholeheartedly. Thanks for everything.

I have never bought a bouquet of flowers before in my life before buying some here and I’m glad I chose A&S Whitestone Nursery. Thank God the staff was nice and patient because I had no idea what I was doing. The place is a lot bigger inside than it looks on the outside. This is now my families go to florist.

This Place Is Very Family oriented. They Do a Wonderful Job and every time i go there the owners are always their managing the staff. They Really put heart into there work which is why i will never buy from a franchise business and always stick with a mom and pop shop. There Is also a Garden Center inside as well who gave me the best ideas on redoing my front yard. i really must say i have no complaints whenever i shop here

Continue to love the work they do — gorgeous arrangements!

3.5 stars.
This is the closest fully functional floral shop in my ‘hood that I know of. It serves it’s purpose for most things, but I find it to be rather over-​priced. For instance, I run to this shop when I’m in a pinch and need bouquets or last minute stems to make my own at-​home arrangements (for guests, etc), and the price per stem seems VERY high. Today I paid $ 3/​stem + tax for a la carte gerbera daisies. I would understand this price, perhaps if they were being arranged… but opening the refrigerator door and picking them out myself, I find it to be too pricey.
On the other hand, the bouquets are usually lovely. Depending on who does the arrangement, you could make off like a bandit. I’ve gone in and told them «$ 25» and walked out with something that probably should have been more like $ 35 – 45. Other times I’ve felt skimped.
The one consistent thing here is service. READ: Lack of. Never very friendly. You can stand in the store or at the counter for minutes without being acknowledged. Do not like.

I might be biased with this review as for as long as I’ve lived in my neighborhood (aka 25 years), this florist has always been there.
I’ve only recently started ordering from here. Discovered it’s mutually beneficial when ordering from a local business vs. a 1800 flowers — prices are def. cheaper. Plus when a florist can walk to your house to deliver flowers you know they can’t cheat you.
Arrangements are a little pricey than say places in Flushing but they’re always tastefully done. I’ve always trusted their judgment on the aesthetics.
Other than arrangements, they also have a nursery with a surprising number of fauna varietals. (haha i just wanted to say that)