Birthday flowers in Pasadena

The residential half of Pasadena birthday delivery is a porch problem, and the porches are the good kind. Bungalow Heaven in 91104 is sixteen blocks of protected Craftsman bungalows, nearly all of them with a deep covered front porch set back behind a lawn — the easiest leave-at-door geometry in Los Angeles County. Garfield Heights, Orange Heights and the streets around North Lake behave the same way. Madison Heights and the blocks south of California in 91106 are larger and more formal, with side entrances and long walks. West of the Arroyo in 91105, Linda Vista, Annandale and San Rafael climb into the hills on narrow streets with gates, intercoms and driveways a delivery van cannot turn around in; these need a phone number, not a hope. East in 91107, Hastings Ranch and Chapman Woods are postwar tracts with wide driveways and clear house numbers, the fastest residential runs on the grid. Downtown is the inverse: the newer podium buildings around Del Mar, Green and Cordova have fobbed lobbies, package rooms that will not take flowers, and no way in without a resident. The seasonal factor that actually ruins birthday bouquets here is heat. A west-facing 91104 porch in a September Santa Ana sits well above 100 degrees by mid-afternoon, and a hand-tied left in that sun for two hours is finished. From July through early October, ask for a hand-off, a shaded side door, or a morning window — and if the recipient works, send it to the office instead and let them drive it home in an air-conditioned car.