Flowers go the distance to reach your Valentine

Flowers must be rehydrated after they arrive locally,
florists say.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

The road to a lover’s hands on Valentine’s Day can be a long one for some signs of affection.

Just where do all those colorful flowers come from that we buy up for St. Valentine’s Day to make loved ones so very happy?

Most of them are shipped in from farm growers in Colombia, Equador and Mexico, says Marie LaCivita, co-owner of Youngstown Plants & Flowers, a wholesaler on West Rayen Avenue in Youngstown.

They’re flown in to Miami where they’re pre-cooled so they become dormant. From there, the flowers are trucked in to local wholesalers.

Making the flowers dormant, LaCivita explained, increases their life from three to four days to a week to 10 days.

Rick Lara, co-owner of Connelly’s Flowers with Ruth Connelly on North Main Street in Niles, explained that when they receive the flowers, they are dipped into a solution to bring them out of dormancy and are rehydrated by placing them in water.

“That fires things up to bring them back to life,” Lara said.

Other flowers such as Bird of Paradise and orchids are grown in Hawaii or Central America, LaCivita said, and tulips and daisies are grown year-round in hot houses in Canada and Chicago and out of doors in Washington state because of its mild climate.

Between 50,000 and 75,000 flowers per week make their way through the wholesaler on Youngstown’s North Side. It’s about three times that number on the holidays, LaCivita said.

Some of them end up in flower shops such as Dick Adgate florist at Market Street and Shadyside Drive on Youngtown’s South Side.

Sandy Cahalin of Canfield, who has worked at the shop for 15 years, says that on occasions she will notice small holes in the delivery boxes or in the rose petals themselves. These, she explained, are from U.S. customs officials probing the boxes for contraband.

Actually, Cahalin said, Mother’s Day, not St. Valentine’s Day, is the busiest holiday for florists.

Since Mother’s Day is in the spring, potted plants and not flowers are are main sellers.

Marlene McDowall of Poland has managed the Adgate’s flower shop for 30 years. She has observed that women would rather get their St. Valentine’s Day flowers at their workplace.

“It shows [other employees] that someone really cares,” McDowell said.

She has seen a trend of women sending flowers to their favorite man, and what was once red roses has turned to one-third of sales being other-color roses.

At Connelly’s, Lara said they have a demand for a rainbow rose. Each petal is a different color.

Some men, McDowell pointed out, send roses to two women in their lives.

“Make sure you get that right,” she said: Men want to be assured that the right card goes to the right woman.

McDowell has also noticed that more younger men are buying flowers for their ladies for St. Valentinue’s Day.

McDowell said the younger men tell her, “My wife really looks forward to this.”

Outlets such as Sam’s Club have red roses available on a Web site. A customer can buy 200 red roses for $294 or 125 hot pink roses for $162.

Lara said this type of sales approach hasn’t hurt business. He said buyers have to cut, treat and clean the flowers.

“It’s not a bargain. Actually, it’s a lot of work,” he added.

yovich@vindy.com