National flower shortage branches into local flower shops
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Bundles of roses arrive at local florist shops ahead of Valentine’s Day. Florists cut and prepare the roses and keep them in water until it’s time to add the classic flower to arrangements.
Diane Scalamogna said roses are widely available ahead of Valentine's Day, but wholesalers were asked to purchase assorted colors instead of bulk-buying just red or just pink before the holiday. L&M Flower Shop in Canonsburg was preparing roses for arrangements Tuesday afternoon.
Since the pandemic uprooted the global floral industry, peace lilies have been difficult for Larry Jones to stock in Washington Square Flower Shop.
Peace lilies and other exotic plants and flowers have been in short supply since the pandemic began.
Local florists say they have plenty of flowers available, but they encourage customers to place Valentine's Day and other holiday orders early to ensure their arrangements include all the flowers and colors they want.
The flower shortage has forced local florists to get creative with their arrangements. A snapdragon is often substituted for the white stock flower in this arrangement when the ruffled white stock is unavailable.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
When certain flowers are unavailable, local florists work with customers to find flower or color substitutes for that arrangement.
Henry Matisse once said, “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”
For nearly two years, however, certain flowers have been absent from local florist shops.
“I couldn’t get white carnations, and that’s a common flower,” said Janet Baxendell, who has managed The Perfect Arrangement & Lily Bee’s in Waynesburg for 12 years. “Sympathy (arrangements) – that’s one of our biggest sellers here. I have orders on back-order constantly with wind chimes, lanterns. There definitely is a shortage. It just depends on what flower it is.”
Exotic flowers are especially hard for Baxendell to stock. Larry Jones, who runs Washington Square Flower Shop in Washington, is also having a difficult time filling his storefront with plants and products that were once an order away.
“The peace lilies, it’s one of those plants that I carry constantly. They’re hard to get now,” Jones said, adding he’s felt the impact of the flower shortage most strongly the past couple springs.
“Anything metal, too: easels, wind chimes. I have silk flowers, anything coming from China, it’s an issue.”
The issue stems back to early 2020.
“It all goes back to COVID. It really set everything off,” said Diana Scalamogna, a family owner of BW Wholesale Florist on Smallman Street in Pittsburgh.
When the world locked down, the flower industry shut down along with it.
“All the farms pretty much had to halt production. They had to pretty much throw away their roots,” said Scalamogna. “So when the world started to open up again, all of a sudden there was this demand for flowers again. Events were back on. It was a huge supply and demand issue.”
Demand has been hard to meet. Weather in California, which grows about 76% of the United States’ fresh flowers, and Bogota, Colombia, further compounded the shortage.
When farms in Ecuador and Bogota – the two major flower exporters to the U.S. – returned to work, owners found themselves short-handed.
A decrease in international flights meant less space on fewer planes for flowers and related product. When shipments did arrive in the states, there weren’t enough bodies to check flowers in.
And then, of course, there’s the truck driver shortage.
“Logistics is a big issue,” said Scalamogna. “It really all started from COVID … and then it trickled down. When flights weren’t available, when they did grow something, it was hard to get it into the U.S. When these flowers arrive in Miami, there’s a shortage of labor to accept these flowers. There’s a shortage of truck drivers. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Florists, including Harold Smith, who owns Best of the Best first place-winning L&M Flower Shop in Canonsburg, has, like Baxendell and Jones, pivoted to meet customer needs.
“We might need a couple days’ notice for a specific flower,” Smith said. “In cases, yes, we do have to substitute if one flower’s not available. We substitute another flower in its place, so they get the value of the order. We try to get a hold of the customer, we give them the options. We try to make them as best as we can with the vases and stuff that we have available.”
Baxendell, too, has had to think outside the box when fulfilling customer orders. Both local florists said customers have been understanding when arrangements are changed due to the flower shortage.
But there is one big change in greens at The Perfect Arrangement as a result of the pandemic.
“My prices have increased quite a bit,” Baxendell said. “They’re even adding on fuel costs to bring (shipments) here, so it’s been all the way around.”
With more people vaccinated and eager to gather again in large groups, this year is expected to be one of the busiest for weddings in the U.S. Scalamogna said florists may have trouble making a bride’s floral fantasies bloom into a reality, and many brides may need to be flexible with their arrangements.
At L&M, wedding season has already begun.
“I’ve had a wedding in January, I’ve got some in February,” Smith said. “There’s a little bit more in different months. We’re accommodating all the ones that we can.”
Jones, too, is in wedding mode.
“It definitely seems to be ramping up now,” he said. “We’re definitely booking up for spring weddings and fall weddings. It seems to be back to about normal.”
For the global floral industry, “normal” may be another year away, but, aside from specific flower colors, local florists and regional wholesalers are receiving their shipments. For them, it’s a delicate balance of being creative with arrangements and filling all the usual orders while preparing for Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day.
“As long as you stay ahead of the game and order early, you’re good,” Jones said.
Added Smith: “For Valentine’s, place your order early.”