The two workhorse stems florists lean on. Vase-life data picks the harder worker.
Shot to one scale: bloom beside bloom, from our own library.
The verdicts, line by line
Every line below is a field of the open table, not an opinion.
In the vase
In plain water the gap is not taste, it is arithmetic: alstroemeria holds 14 days while carnation manages 10 to 34. On price the two are interchangeable: the wholesale ranges overlap, so the choice is not a budget question.
In the garden
Both come back, but not everywhere: carnation shrugs off zone 6 winters while alstroemeria taps out below zone 7.
The full card
A line is marked only where one flower clearly leads. Equal or too-close values are left plain.
| Field | Carnation | Alstroemeria |
|---|---|---|
| Vase life, days | 10 to 34 | 14 |
| Wholesale, per stem | $0.26 to $0.75 | $0.28 to $1 |
| Fragrance | Clove-scented, strength varies by cultivar | not recorded |
| Light | Full sun to partial shade | Full sun to part shade |
| Water | Medium | Medium |
| Hardiness zones | 6 to 9 | 7 to 10 |
| Bloom months | 3 months | 2 months |
| Deer (Rutgers) | Seldom severely damaged (Rutgers B) | not recorded |
| Cats (ASPCA) | Toxic | Listed non-toxic |
| Out of water | Good | not recorded |
We keep one table of 85 flowers, with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself. The full method ↗
Read the full profile
Everything the table holds on each of them, in plain prose.
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