Valentine's Day Need To Know

Valentine's Day Need To Know

Q: Why are rose prices so high for Valentine's Day?

The simple answer to this is supply and demand, but here is a little more in-depth answer if you are interested.

Growers need to pinch back their crops, essentially sacrificing some early blooms in order to time the majority of their crop to be ready for mid February. This leads to a period of lost production and income for the grower, which they recover by upping the price of the next crop.

The amount of labor to harvest all these roses triples for the Valentine's Day crop. These extra labor charges are also passed along.

The short days and cold temperatures add to the energy costs needed to produce premium blooms.

Transportation costs also increase. Most of the roses used today in the US and Canada are imported from Ecuador and Columbia. There is such a high demand for the holiday that there is often not enough time to wait for a return load and cargo planes return empty to pick up the next shipment of roses. This results in freight being charged both ways and is added to the florist’s purchase price of the product.

We all want the BEST! A real local florist is ordering their roses at least a month ahead of time, our order was placed before Christmas in early December. We know the variety and grower who has the best performing flowers and we are all bidding on them to make sure we can offer the best quality. This is where you can see a fluctuation of pricing from one place to another, a real, reputable florist can't offer a deal on roses on Valentine's Day.  Any place that does has probably bought the seconds or thirds that no one else wanted to take, or they are not a real florist and they are relying on service fees to make up the difference. Most often those “deals” are not really deals at all by the time the fees are added.

Q: How do you get the most for your money?

Order local, order early, and/or send a mixed arrangement that includes a few roses. Take good care of your investment, change the water and recut the stems every couple days. Remember, if you wouldn’t drink the water in the vase your flowers shouldn’t be either.

Q: I saw roses advertised for much less elsewhere. Why are your roses more expensive?

When comparing prices, it is important to know what you're buying and that you are comparing apples to apples. The price of a dozen roses will vary based on the rose variety, stem length, design style and the level of service. For example, long-stem roses (50cm and up) arranged in a vase and delivered to your sweetheart's doorstep will cost more than an unarranged bunch of medium-length (40cm or less) stems. Most of our customers find the added services and superior quality to be well worth it. Beware of online stores offering same day delivery when they don't have a location where you are sending flowers, often they will arrive late if at all along with being left on the step in harsh weather conditions for hours before someone finds them. Call your local shop, check out a companies Facebook and Instagram pages, and be sure you have found a local florist to take your order. 

Q:  You've mentioned stem length several times, why does the stem length matter?

Stem length is the standard our industry uses to grade roses. The quality difference between a 40cm and a 50cm or longer rose is significant, affecting everything from vase life to the size of the bloom. A 50cm or longer rose can be up to 2.5 times larger than a 40cm rose and will generally last days longer in a vase if they are well cared for. 50cm roses are the minimum we will bring in any time of year, for Valentine’s Day our minimum is 60cm with the majority ordered being 90cm.

Q: Aren't Valentine's Day flowers passe?

Simple answer, nope. Flowers and romance go hand in hand, which is why they are one of the most desired gifts for Valentine's Day. Almost everyone can remember the last time they got flowers, which demonstrates the powerful impact they have.

Q: How do you handle working around the clock to fulfill the huge demand for Valentine's Day flowers and deliveries?

With a lot of organization, a lot of love and extra staff to help fulfill the orders. There's a method and a magic about flowers; the method is that organization, the magic is that we're in the business of making people happy and that's what makes it all worthwhile. On the delivery side we ask for help from local service clubs such as Lions and Rotary, and donate $5 for every delivery they make! This allows us to have multiple delivery vehicles running throughout the day and we’ve had up to 5 out at once delivering smiles.

Q: I heard bad weather is affecting the rose supply. How are your Valentine's Day roses?

Flowers come from all over the world and we are in the business to wow our customers' loved ones with the best selection of top-quality flowers. We have many different farms and suppliers that allow us to insure we receive a quality product despite poor weather conditions in some areas.

Q: Is there another budget friendly option?

Absolutely! The beauty of flowers is that we have countless ways to help you express your feelings. Whether it's with a single rose or a mixed-flower arrangement in any size, we can help you give a gift that is special, unique and works within your budget, especially at major floral holidays!

Q: Why flowers?

Flowers are unmatched as a Valentine's Day gift. After all, what else delivers such a powerful, personalized impact with just one phone call? Also, when you see an advertisement for a product other than flowers at Valentine’s Day what do they compare it to? Flowers. These other products are trying to emulate the most popular option. You don’t see the car or clothing brands comparing themselves to the second best option right?

Q: Do you guarantee satisfaction?

Absolutely. We do everything in our power to make sure that each recipient of our flowers is thrilled, and we guarantee our flowers for 7 days. But if for some reason you are not satisfied, we want to hear about it and will do our best to make you happy.

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