30
thePeorian.com
Steve Ennis, owner of The
Flower Box in Peoria Heights,
said a single day in the floral
industry can bring a plethora of
emotions. “In one day we might
be selling arrangements for love,
then sympathy, then celebration
and then comfort. This time of
year you’ll get a lot of holiday
arrangements in there, as well,”
he said in an interview before
Christmas.
While Christmas is a big
time of year for florists, so is
Valentine’s Day, Ennis said.
And roses, he said, make up 75
percent or more of what The
Flower Box will sell that day.
“
That is the flower of love,” he
said.
That doesn’t make it easy,
or even very profitable, for
some florists, said Hacker of
Georgette’s Flowers.
“
There will always be the men
who call or come in at the last
minute and say, ‘give me the
roses. That’s what she expects.’
And we’ll make it,” she said.
However, she added, “Starting
right after Christmas the
wholesalers and growers will
start to raise their prices. They
keep rising until, by the time
Valentine’s Day gets here, we
have no markup built in to what
we charge. We’ve held steady on
our prices and sometimes that
hurts us.”
All the florists agree love is the
emotion they sell most, whether
it is Valentine’s Day or an
anniversary or, the biggest of all,
a wedding.
Floral arrangements for
weddings go through cycles
and even change within cycles,
Hacker said. For example, a
cycle she is seeing change now
is from fresh flowers back to silk
arrangements, with frequent
changes in styles of those
arrangements.
“
Brides today want to keep
their bouquets forever and that is
why silk is making a comeback.
The preference had been fresh
flowers since the 90s, but the
quality of silk flowers is so much
nicer than it was 20 years ago.
You have to touch them or smell
them before you realize they are
silk. Interestingly, because of
These floral arrangements and those shown on the following page were
designed by the florists at LeFleur Floral Designs and Gifts in Washington.
Lynnette Hacker, owner of Jeanette’s Flowers in Peoria.
