Need a place to put those Valentine's Day roses? The Camicia Vase is an elegant, but modern, way to showcase a beautiful flower arrangement. The vase consists of two cylindrical tubes, one made of glass and an exterior one made of chromed steel or aluminum. The exterior tube has a cutaway portion that allows you to see through, into the bottom of the vase and, because of the high-quality of the glasswork, it looks as though the water and flower stems are almost floating in place. The vase is 4" in diameter and 11" high. Price: $320.

In chocolates, they gave Candinas, La Maison du Chocolat, Jacques Torres and Norman Love Confections all "excellent" ratings, with West-coast favorite See's Candies coming in close behind with a "very good" rating, along with Godiva and Leonidas. Target's Choxie brand followed with a "good" rating.

For the florists, reliability seemed to present a problem with some vendors. ProFlowers offered selection, value and reliability, but FTD.com, which stocks the Todd Oldham bouquets, sent out the nicest arrangement. CR still recommends going with a local florist, if you can, for best results.

Todd Oldham has a lovely line of Valentine's bouquets exclusively at FTD Florists this year. All of the arrangements are vibrant and young, prompting recipients to take a second glance - which they might not do with the standard bouquet of red roses. More interesting than the flowers themselves are the vases and containers that the come in. Decorated with floral prints and candy hearts, the vases alone are smile-inducing. One arrangement comes in a stainless steel wine goblet, while another is in a martini shaker.

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When we first heard about the existence of the world's tallest roses, with lush blooms sitting on stems that tower well over five feet above the ground, we immediately knew that they would be an in-demand item for Valentine's day. It turns out that the Washington Post thinks so, too. According to their latest article on the subject, "extreme roses" are growing in popularity faster than the flowers are blooming. They are turning up in celebrity homes and some were featured in the Rose Bowl Parade earlier this year.

Be warned, though: as with most excessively large things (SUVs, for example), these roses aren't inexpensive. Organic Bouquet, a company that specializes in the larger than life roses, charges $250 per dozen. On the plus side, they'll make a huge impact on your Valentine and, because the breed of rose is known as "Forever Young," one dozen should last quite a while.