Rhoslyn Florist

Most roses in this cooler start on a farm in Ecuador that belongs to the family that owns the shop. That is not a line borrowed from a supplier’s brochure: the shop is named after an Ecuadorian rose cultivar, its owners came here from Ecuador, and long-stemmed roses arrive from home every week along with most of what else is on sale. For a neighborhood florist in the east Bronx, that is an unusually short and unusually documented supply line.

What people come here for

Celebrations come first on the shop’s own list: birthdays and anniversaries, a new baby, Sweet Sixteens, baby showers, corporate parties and weddings, with event design offered as a separate service rather than a bouquet with extra ribbon. Fabiola Guerrero, who runs the business with her husband Diego Toasa, moved into floristry deliberately — workshops in flower arranging first, then a wedding-and-events course at Lehman College — and the shop is built around custom work rather than a fixed range. The seasonal peaks are treated the same way: Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and the Easter pieces built with toy rabbits are design occasions, not just volume.

Sympathy arrangements are part of the standing work as well, delivered to funeral homes around the borough.

Delivery and same-day orders

Delivery runs daily across Bronx County and north into Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, with hospitals, offices and schools on the regular route. No fixed cut-off hour is published, so the working rule is the usual one: the earlier in the day your order lands, the better its chances of going out on that day’s run. The shop is also listed with the on-demand courier apps, which is the faster route when the deadline is counted in hours rather than days.

Pickup at the shop is available, with one rule worth knowing before you send someone: whoever collects the order shows photo ID matching the person who placed it.

What stands out

• Flowers from the family’s own farm. Ecuadorian roses shipped weekly, rather than whatever the wholesaler had that morning.
• The name is a rose. “Rhoslyn” is a cultivar grown in the owners’ home country.
• Design over assembly. The owner went and learned floristry and event planning on purpose, and the shop sells that, not a catalog.
• Grown from one counter to several. The East Tremont original now has siblings elsewhere in the Bronx and in New Rochelle, opened on the family’s own money.
• A photo-ID pickup rule. A small thing that says the shop takes responsibility for who walks out with an order.

Where the flowers come from

This is the rare Bronx florist that can actually answer the question. The owners import Ecuadorian long-stemmed roses weekly from the family farm and, by their own account, nearly everything else on sale travels the same way. Ecuador’s high-altitude farms are where the long, heavy-headed roses in New York shops generally originate; the difference here is that the same family stands at both ends of that trip.

The shop, the service and what else is sold

Beyond cut flowers the shelves carry houseplants, gift baskets and boxes, balloons, plush toys, chocolates and preserved roses — the full “flowers plus something” range a neighborhood shop is expected to keep. Custom orders are the house specialty, and the owner describes the method as designing from the heart, which in practice means bringing an idea and letting the shop build around it. Between the two locations the business employs about seven people, so a large order is not one person’s evening.

When to come and how to get there

The original counter sits in the east Bronx, on the stretch between Westchester Square and Pelham Bay — the shop even trades under the Pelham Bay name on social media. The eastern branch of the 6 line and the buses along that corridor put it within easy reach of Schuylerville, Country Club and Throggs Neck, and Pelham Bay Park is the landmark everyone in the area navigates by. Event and wedding work needs lead time in weeks; February and May need days rather than hours.

Questions and answers

Can I get a delivery today?

Usually yes, if the order comes in early enough in the day. There is no published cut-off, so call rather than guess when the deadline matters.

Where do they deliver?

Across Bronx County and north into Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, including hospitals, offices and schools.

Can someone else pick up my order?

Yes, but photo ID matching the person who placed the order is required at the counter — plan for that if you are sending a friend.

Are the roses really from Ecuador?

That is the owners’ own account: long-stemmed roses come weekly from the family farm there, along with most of the rest of the range.

Do they do weddings and events?

Yes, and event design is a stated specialty rather than a sideline. Book weeks ahead, and bring the venue and palette to the first conversation.

Can they build something that is not in the catalog?

That is what the shop is set up for. Describe the idea, the occasion and roughly what size you have in mind.

What about Sweet Sixteens and baby showers?

Both are on the shop’s own list of regular event work, which is unusual — most neighborhood florists stop at bouquets.

How far ahead should I order for Mother’s Day?

Several days at minimum, a week if the arrangement is custom. The same holds for Valentine’s Day, when the whole trade in the borough runs out of hands before it runs out of flowers.

Opening hours