(Photo 90264123 © Konstantin Malkov | Dreamstime.com)

By Derek Craddock

FLOWERS, FLOWERS, FLOWERS

‘Roses are red, violets are blue’: Local floral shops have so much to do

Feb 8, 2022 | 8:00 AM

Valentine’s Day is less than a week away, but will you be able to pick up that beautiful bouquet?

All rhyming aside, many floral shops are preparing for orders and deliveries but this year it has been harder than previous years due to supply chain issues and price changes.

Stacy Coburn owns Scentiment Floral on Central Avenue and said supply chain disruptions have affected more than just flowers.

“Most of our hard goods, vases, baskets, novelty containers, even the plush animals. A majority of our product, we try to go as much Canadian grown product as possible, a lot comes out of B.C. and they had that flooding back in December.”

She added they’ve had to source flowers from other greenhouses and growers that they haven’t before, meaning quality could be affected.

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Supply chain issues also affected another florist, Enchanted Florist, but for a different reason.

“Our flowers come from South America. They had a big storm in Miami so that held us up,” said store owner Ian Clarke.

Derek Semeniuk, manager at Burkitt’s Floral said weather issues affected some supply but overall, they’re doing well.

As for prices, that does not appear to be an issue for the local florists compared to other shops in North America.

In the United States, the price of roses has jumped 22 per cent from last year due to inflation. The prices of other Valentine’s Day novelties, like chocolates, have also seen a spike in price.

For Coburn, despite prices on their end going up, they’ve tried to not raise prices for Valentine’s Day, while Semeniuk said they have raised prices just for that occasion.

Thankfully, despite the struggles, local florists are still busy and orders are coming in.

“Pre-booking sales are going well. It’s not unusual to not have a ton of pre-booked orders but we’re on average for pre-booked,” said Coburn.

“For Christmas time, it was really good. In January, it slowed down quite a bit but with Valentine’s fast approaching it has started to pick up,” added Semeniuk.

All the floral shops that spoke to paNOW are anticipating a busy Valentine’s Day, adding that orders will likely jump up in the coming days, due to those procrastinating to get the perfect gift for their special someone.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @pa_craddock