Anyone planning to surprise a loved one with roses this Valentine’s Day may have to rethink their plans, according to at least one florist.
“We were limited on the amount that we could buy because there are just fewer farms out there that are growing,” Bridgett Mills-Arnold – owner of the Jonesboro, Ark., flower shop Posey Peddler – recently told KAIT 8 News. “So we have ordered in much of the same product that we usually have, but not in the same large amount of quantity.”
Arkansas flower shop owners aren’t the only ones worried about falling short on rose orders. ABC 7 Denver reported this month that flower shops in Los Angeles and Boston were also facing flower shortages.
“Local farms [in New York] had a terrible spring and planted a month late,” Val Foote, a florist and owner of Sungrove Blossoms in Rochester, New York, told Business Insider in September. They said roses and dahlias were both growing behind schedule. A lack of workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to late schedules, said the outlet.
According to the Society of American Florists, Valentine’s Day accounts for 30 percent of holiday flower transactions, followed by Christmas/Chanukah and Mother’s Day, each at 26 percent. Roses take up 84 percent of the Valentine’s Day flower market and red roses are the most popular, taking up 69 percent of purchases, said the organization.
“It is estimated that more than 250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day,” it said.
Those who plan ahead may be able to snag some of the popular blooms this year, said one florist.
“We have been receiving some orders, the earlier the better because we’re on a bit of a flower shortage. We’re having trouble getting different things,” said Loretta Shelton, owner of The Flower Girl shop in Columbus, Mo. She said she gets flowers from growers in South America who are also behind schedule, according to WCBI.
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