Flowers can’t do the work that different behavior was supposed to do.

Gestures are easy to produce and easy to mistake for repair. A gift after a broken promise settles the mood without touching whatever caused it, which is why the same argument returns a month later. What the other person is waiting for is a change they can watch happen. Until that arrives, the gesture is a payment on the wrong bill.

If you owe someone something, work out what would look different next Tuesday and do that instead. Name the specific thing you are changing, then let them see it. Presents are fine afterwards, as decoration rather than as the apology.