Flowers lifting spirits during pandemic
Local florists with online presence seeing surge in sales
WATERLOO REGION — Even in a pandemic, it appears flowers can make everything better.
From the vibrant colours to fragrant scents, fresh-cut flowers are being delivered more than ever across Waterloo Region, say some florist shops.
“It’s been incredibly busy,” said Linda Nelson, owner of Camerons Flower Shop in Kitchener.
The flower shop opened in Belmont Village in 1954 and Nelson has owned the business for 25 years. She has never experienced a Mother’s Day boon like she did two weeks ago.
Nelson said she was working up to 19 hours a day getting orders ready for the popular flower-giving occasion.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 15-year career,” said florist Haley Zaharia, who owns Charmed Flowers in Uptown Waterloo. She, too, works 10 hours a day and barely has had a day off in two months.
“I’m part of some florist groups and I’ve been hearing it from all over the country,” she said. “If you were able to remain open with an online store, the demand was just more than you could keep up with.” When the COVID-19 pandemic was first announced in mid-March, it wasn’t clear if flower shops were essential and people weren’t buying flowers. Some florists were forced to dump their flowers, said Jack Vandermaas, general manager of Ontario Flower Growers Cooperative, who sells to Ontario florists.
Many grocery stores slowed their orders of flowers as they prioritized bringing in items in high demand, such as toilet paper, said Andrew Morse, executive director of Flowers
Canada (Ontario), an agricultural trade association representing about 180 flower producers across the province.
During that period of confusion, there were a lot of growers who were throwing out product because they didn’t know how to get it to market, he said.
“If you wanted flowers at that crucial time period, there weren’t really a ton of options other than to try and order online from florists as well,” Morse said.
But “it turned around pretty quickly,” said Vandermaas, and florists were soon ordering and selling more flowers.
Both Camerons and Charmed Flowers say plenty of orders are marking occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries and even children’s birthday parties, as people can’t gather to celebrate or go out for dinner.
Zaharia said the majority of her orders are simply people being nice to each other during a global health crisis that has forced people to stay indoors.
“I read every card message ... and it’s just a ton of messages of support,” she said. “Keep your chin up” or “Thinking of you” are the general sentiments of the messages.
“It’s definitely been the best side of humanity,” Zaharia said. “People just trying to lift each other up.”
The flower supply has been steady with a plentiful bounty of Ontario-grown flowers. In season now are daisies, alstroemerias, Fugi mums and lilies.
“My cooler is totally full,” said Nelson.
And around her shop, there are buckets full of flowers. On an average day, she would deliver 30 bouquets but that has doubled.
With both stores closed to the public, browsing space has turned into a full-fledged workspace for incoming orders.
Nelson said she was able to bring back some staff and her son, a chef who was laid off, has been cutting flowers.
Nelson is still able to get flowers from her importers, including roses from Colombia. But orchids from Thailand and greenery from Italy aren’t coming.
Zaharia said she has had trouble getting flowers grown outside of Canada.
“My roses typically come from Ecuador or Holland, so they are typically being imported and that’s where we’re seeing the most difficulties, is with the imported product,” she said.
So she’s focused more on locally grown blooms such as tulips and hyacinths — and now peonies are in season.
But not every floral shop is feeling the surge. Some haven’t been able to recover losses.
For Melanie Martin, co-owner of Le Jardin Flower Shop in Cambridge, it’s been a different story. Her business specializes in making floral arrangements for occasions, such as weddings and corporate events, and they also host workshops.
Business has essentially dried up this year as the pandemic has forced the cancellation or postponement of weddings to next year. Others have downsized, hosting small backyard ceremonies with fewer flower arrangements.
For many, flowers make people feel happy.
“People can’t get out and give someone a hug so they are sending something pretty and colourful. What better way to do that than with flowers?” Nelson said.
“It’s a feel-good kind of business,” Vandermaas said.
“There are so many different colours. Flowers just brighten up a room,” said Lindsay Oldham, third-generation owner of Butt’s Berry and Flower Farm just west of Guelph.
“We do need them in this time of pandemic,” said Oldham, who grows dahlias, most of which are sent to the Mississauga-based Ontario Flower Growers Co-operative that sells to Ontario florists.
Oldham is busy planting dahlia tubers and by mid-July expects up to 200 varieties ready for picking from his eight acres. From July to September, his farm cuts about 5,000 stems of dahlias each day.