Congratulations, dude - you remembered Valentine's Day in time to buy your lover a dozen beautiful roses, which you presented her when she arrived home from work that evening. You're a champion, right? Not necessarily. In fact, you may have made two crucial errors; buying her a gift she doesn't really treasure, and giving it to her at the wrong time.

According to a survey done by several matchmaking sites (date.com, matchmaker.com and amor.com), less than one in four women list flowers as their favorite Valentine's Day gift. The most popular? Jewelry, at 27.8%, intimate love notes at 22.2%, and a romantic restaurant dinner, 22.2%. Chocolate rated only 11.1%, probably because it is so easily obtained and likely to be consumed in large part by the man giving the gift. (Aside- imho, if only 27.8% of women listed jewelry as their favorite gift, then 72.2% lied.)

In contrast, 41.7% of men surveyed felt that flowers were the best gift, followed by jewelry at 33.3%, dinner, 25%, and chocolates, 16.7%.

The lesson? The more bling, the more zing!

If you are nonetheless set on giving flowers, then make them count. Don't present them at home, where only the two of you can enjoy them. Send them to her at work, so she can demonstrate to her co-workers just how loved she is. We all crave public acknowledgment of our worth, and a bouquet on the desk is worth ten in the den.

You'll thank me the next morning!

Read more Valentine's Day stories from WalletPop