Problem Peonies

Ben and I went to the San Francisco Flowermart last weekend. I went to go buy some supplies for my next wedding and Ben decided to come along. I showed him around and while we were there - I found the deal of the century!! 10 beautiful raspberry red peonies for $8. Who can resist that?!?! These puppies usually cost $17 and up per 10 stems. So we handed over the cash and took the bundle home.

Look how beautiful:



Then Ben unwrapped them and put them in a vase and this is what they looked like:


Hmmm.....the deal is not so good if the flowers are DEAD!!
After a closer look - I found a tag on the flower:

This tag is the tag of death in the flower world. It means they are OLD and have no more prettiness to offer. We were still able to eek about 3 days from them but I learned my lesson. There is no such thing as a "deal" at the flowermart.