Altoona Florist: Flower Delivery in Altoona, IA

James Cress Florist has been family-run since 1903. We coordinate flower delivery across Altoona and Polk County, Iowa, through vetted local florist partners: you order online, a florist near your recipient designs the arrangement from fresh stock, and a real person hand-delivers it in water. We have delivered to Altoona more than 10 times in the last two years.

Order by 2:00 PM Monday–Friday or 12:45 PM Saturday (Central time) for same-day delivery to Altoona. There is no Sunday delivery through the florist network except on select major holidays. If no partner florist can take your order, which is rare, you are refunded in full, and every order carries our 100% Smile Guarantee.

Same-day by 2:00 PM Mon–Fri · 12:45 PM Sat (Central)10+ deliveries to Altoona in the last two yearsPolk County · ZIP 50009Designed near the recipient by a vetted local florist partner100% Smile Guarantee

Sympathy & hospital deliveries in Altoona

Common delivery destinations in and around Altoona, with the details our partner florists need to get an arrangement to the right place. For a funeral service, put the service date and time in your order notes; for hospitals, include the patient’s name and unit.

Funeral homes we deliver to

Add the funeral home name, the service date and the start time to your order notes. Standing sprays, wreaths and baskets are delivered ahead of the visitation; smaller arrangements can go to the family home instead.

Hospitals & medical centers

Include the patient’s full name and, if you know it, the room or unit. Many ICU, cardiac and oncology units do not allow fresh flowers, so a plant or gift basket is the safer choice for those units; add a phone number so the florist can check with the desk if needed.

  • Mercyone Des Moines Medical Center 1111 6th Ave, Des Moines, IA 50314(515) 247-4436
    9.1 mi
  • Broadlawns Medical Center 1801 Hickman Road, Des Moines, IA 50314(515) 282-2200
    9.6 mi

Senior living & nursing homes

Add the resident’s name and, if you know it, the wing or apartment number. Deliveries go to the front desk and staff bring them to the resident.

  • Altoona Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 200 Seventh Avenue SW, Altoona, IA 50009(515) 967-4267
    in Altoona
  • Prairie Vista Village 2785 1ST Avenue S, Altoona, IA 50009(515) 967-8700
    1.1 mi
  • Parkridge Specialty Care 5800 NE 12TH Avenue, Pleasant Hill, IA 50327(515) 265-5348
    3.4 mi
  • StoryPoint Altoona 1600 8th St SW, Altoona, IA 50009
    1.2 mi

Colleges & campus deliveries

Campus deliveries go to a residence hall desk or department office, not to a dorm room. Include the student’s name and a phone number. The weekday cutoff for school and campus addresses is 1:30 PM.

Churches & places of worship

For a service or event, include the event name and start time; deliveries are accepted at the church office during its hours.

Hotels

Include the guest’s name and check-in date; the front desk holds deliveries for arriving guests.

Verified Facility list checked by James Cress Florist delivery team · September 2026 · Sources: CMS Provider Data Catalog, NCES IPEDS, Overture Maps Foundation. Addresses come from public records; if a facility has moved or closed, tell us and we will correct it.

How delivery to Altoona works

Same-day cutoffs (Central time)

Order byHomes & businessesSchools & campus
Monday–Friday2:00 PM1:30 PM
Saturday12:45 PMNo school delivery
SundayNot available*Not available*

All times are your recipient’s local time (Central). *No same-day delivery through the florist network on Sundays except on select major holidays; orders placed on Sunday are delivered Monday. After the cutoff, choose the next available date at checkout.

What happens after you order

  1. We route your order to a vetted florist partner near Altoona, one of 10,000+ shops in our nationwide network.
  2. The florist designs your arrangement from our recipe with fresh, in-stock stems. If a stem is unavailable, they substitute one of equal or greater value in the same style and color palette.
  3. A real person hand-delivers it to the door, the funeral home or the hospital desk, in water rather than a shipping box.
  4. If no partner can take the order (this is rare), we refund you in full and tell you right away. Every order carries our 100% Smile Guarantee.

ZIP code we deliver to in Altoona: 50009.

Read the full delivery policy

Which Altoona funeral homes do you deliver to?

Hamilton's Altoona Funeral Home , Watts Vault and Monument and thegravediggerllc are within our partners’ delivery area for Altoona. Add the funeral home, the service date and the start time to your order notes and the delivery is timed for the visitation.

Can you deliver to Mercyone Des Moines Medical Center?

Yes. Mercyone Des Moines Medical Center is about 9 miles from Altoona. Include the patient’s full name and unit. Some units restrict fresh flowers, so a plant or gift basket is the safer choice for intensive-care or oncology patients.

Delivery and the weather in Altoona

Weather decides whether an arrangement can wait at the door. In Altoona, average lows fall to freezing or below in January , February , March , November and December . When it is colder than about 34°F or hotter than about 90°F, the delivering florist hands the flowers to a person or leaves a note and re-attempts rather than leaving them outside.

SeasonAvg lowAvg highDelivery rule
Dec – Feb 16°F 34°F Below about 34°F: handed to a person or re-attempted, never left on a doorstep.
Mar – May 39°F 61°F Normal doorstep delivery.
Jun – Aug 62°F 82°F Normal doorstep delivery.
Sep – Nov now 41°F 62°F Normal doorstep delivery.

Where we deliver in Altoona

Altoona, IA · Polk County Altoona Outline: U.S. Census Bureau

Altoona is in Polk County, Iowa, part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area. Our partner florists deliver to homes, businesses, funeral homes and hospitals across Altoona (ZIP 50009) and to nearby Des Moines, Pleasant Hill and Berwick.

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What James Cress Florist customers say

Rated 4.9 out of 5 across 1,265 published customer reviews, collected by Judge.me after delivery. We show reviews for a specific town only when the order was delivered there, so this page carries our store-wide reviews.

Read all James Cress Florist reviews →

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