How to celebrate valentine’s day with seasonal flowers
Valentine’s Day has long been synonymous with the beautiful red rose, however on February 14th roses are sadly not in season, meaning we import our Valentine favourite from abroad, quite often South America. As we begin to think about the providence of our flowers more like we do about our food I want to explore alternatives to buying red roses that are perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day Red Roses:
I want to begin this blog post talking about the huge link between red roses and Valentines Day. Traditionally, it is the popular choice to give, one that stems from the Victorian Era with their deep red petals they elude passion and romance and a dozen red roses has long been seen as the ultimate grand romantic gesture. This idea is reinforced through commercial marketing campaigns that we are bombarded with from the supermarkets and online stores. Yet, in recent years I have seen a huge shift from florists who are wanting to promote using more seasonal flowers, which is refreshing and exciting.
I have been running my wedding florist business for 13 years now and offered Valentines Flowers every year only stopping recently when I had my little girl. Before that, I worked in a number of various florist shops from country Somerset towns to high end Clifton Village in Bristol, so I have seen my fair share of Valentine’s Day bouquets over the last 25 years! I would love the busy times, especially Valentine’s where you would listen to the customers stories on why and who they were sending flowers too, be it the young guy nervously purchasing his first bunch of flowers ever, to the elderly gentlemen who had spoilt his wife with a dozen red roses for the last 50 years! Do not even ask me about the men who would be sending more than one bouquet! Despite red roses being the perceived choice, I would always thoroughly enjoy trying to steer the guys away from the red roses into choosing something more springlike using tulips, narcissi and ranunculus. They would tend to look shocked and surprised, but I would say ‘trust me’ she will love these more. Of course, I never tried to deviate the elderly gentleman away from his roses, he was the only one completely let off, this story still feels me with such joy when I recount it, what true love!
Why are red roses so expensive on valentine’s day:
Apart from using seasonality as a reason to choose spring blooms, they are also better value. Lots of red roses will be imported from South America, via Holland at the wonderful Dutch markets. This is a live market where prices fluctuate daily, and like anything the cost is determined by supply and demand. The demand for red roses is humongous, because this occasion is celebrated on the same day worldwide. Despite flower growers obviously growing a higher quantity for this select week, there will still only be a finite amount of roses and therefore the demand tends to outweigh supply, pushing the price up. A further reason is that there will be a considerable amount of extra for, planning and staff resources needed to fulfil the Valentine’s demand, alongside Mother’s Day these key occasions are when growers will make a big proportion of their income. The amount of times you would hear customers say ‘ohh you must be making a fortune this week’ when you would say the cost of a red roses is actually £7.50 rather than then say £2.50 it was the previous week. This is simply not the case, and florists will not be adding on extra extra markup I can assure you that!
Let me debunk the adverts that you will begin to start seeing around now, ‘30 roses for £10’ from the supermarkets and the likes of the online card delivery stores. It may appear to sound like a good ‘deal’ and when you compare prices to a florist bouquet, but in reality there is no true comparison because the products are not equal to start with. I could talk about this until the cows come home, but supermarkets will buy flowers in astronomical quantities meaning they can purchase at a super low price to begin with. It is also a well known fact that supermarkets will treat flowers as a ‘loss leader’, meaning they are sold to not make a profit, they are there to look pretty. Flowers are positioned at the front of the stores to make the entrance look inviting, colourful, and at times like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day they are a way to sell further items such as chocolates and champagne. Online delivery companies will be excellent at marketing, but the bouquets will often arrive in a sorry state (this is not speculation, every year there are articles taking about the huge numbers of disappointed customers from using these companies) In my eyes, flowers from the likes of Moon Pig is grounds for divorce!
The paramount difference for me is of course the quality. A long stem Dutch import rose from a florist at Valentine’s Day will be the most stunning flower, fresh in and carefully conditioned to ensure longevity. Despite what people think, roses are extremely long lasting cut flowers and if looked after well can last up to two weeks. This would not be the case from a sad supermarket bunch, that has been brought into the store far too early, probably been pulled out of a bucket by a customer and left out of water, hastily thrown into a trolley and passed through the checkout. Florists will hand tie your roses, amongst beautiful foliage and beautiful wrap and package to ensure they are going to arrive in their perfect condition, all alongside a hand written note and exceptional customer service.
I want to make it completely clear that I am not advocating that Valentine’s Day is about what you spend, I understand that the supermarket deals are tempting, but you can spend that same £10 on a bunch of hand wrapped tulips from a florist, which would be far more thoughtful than the £10 ‘30 roses’. Quality over Quantity could not be more apt when discussing the topic of where to buy your flowers from.
SPRING FLOWER ALTERNATIVES AT VALENTINE’s Day
There are so many beautiful flowers available at Valentine’s Day that you could opt for, a florist shop will be packed to the rafters with beautiful locally grown narcissi. At this time of year they come from the Scilly Isles and Cornwall and come in vibrant yellow, pale cream, and pure white, that zingy yellow is just the tonic that we need in February when typically the weather is still dreary and the nights dark and long. Narcissi have a fabulous scent too, a simple bunch wrapped in brown paper or tissue is a complete mood lifter and maybe an unexpected gift! British grown tulips are also available and come in a great array of colours, again the vibrant tones are very spring link or you could opt for more rich deep reds and plums for that romantic and opulent feel. I always used to ask my customers, does the recipient prefer bright and colourful or are they more of a muted, neutral person, because we are always one or the other! My best advice would be to pop into/call your florist and ask them what they would recommend that is seasonal, talk to them as they are the experts and they will be able to offer you the very best blooms keeping your recipients chosen preferences in mind at all times.
my best 5 flowers to use in valentine’s bouquets:
Narcissi: scented, colourful and completely seasonal! Pure sunshine from the Scilly Isles and Cornwall
Tulips: Long lasting, just watch them grow in the vase they are a real treat to plonk in a jug on the kitchen table.
Ranunculus: The ultimate romantic bloom with their never-ending layers of soft tissue like petals. A sister of the peony, I defy anyone not to love ranunculus.
Anemone: Locally grown at this time of year if in a poly tunnel, for people who love blue, violet, lilac and purple this is your go to bloom.
Viburnum: go for a big bunch or zesty, lime green goodness in the form of viburnum oculus, pair it with branches of blossom too and you will have a winning bouquet for someone who prefers the more natural and greenery based bouquets.
Why Choose spring flowers over red roses at valentine’s day?
In case you haven’t work out I am a huge advocate of using seasonal flowers at all opportunities and so spring flowers would be my favourite to use over Valentine’s Day. The hellebores, snowdrops, catkins and some daffodils shall we emerging from the dark winter right now, so replicate these colours in your spring bouquets. Daffodils are always the most welcome flower at this time of year and can be considered a good value bunch too. Scent, colour, seasonality, providence are all aspects to think of when thinking about Valentines Day flowers. I recently did a a poll on my Instagram asking whether people would prefer spring blooms or red roses at Valentine’s Day and the resounding winner was the spring blooms, proving you cannot believe all the commercial adverts that are forced in our face trying to sell you cheap red roses! That said, if your loved one adores red roses and they are an actual favourite that means something to them then of course purchase them from a florist shop.
Love it or hate it, (and I know lots of people do hate it!) February 14th is my eyes is an excuse to make extra special effort, treat our loved ones and tell them how special they are to us. Yes, of course you can do that every day of the year, but I am always here for an occasion, and so are the florists! The florists will be working so hard to fulfil all of your orders, quite often last minute (sorry guys, but it is the same day each year, a bit of planning would be very much appreciated!) They will have their shops full of beautiful bouquets ready to be picked up and made as easy as possible for you. So to those of you that celebrate this occasion then Happy Valentines and may you be spoilt in all the ways you wish to be!