“Are you open for business?”

“We just wondered,” they say, “...because we can’t see your flower-cart. We didn’t think you were open.”

The flower-cart is normally parked outside our shop, displaying plants and flowers that are for sale, as well as inviting people into the shop. Well, that was in the pre-Covid days but that all changed on 25th March when the whole country moved into Level 4 lockdown.

Many businesses and industries were greatly affected by the lockdown. The NZ Flower Growers were hit hard and the recovery period is going to be a long slow journey. During lockdown, growers operated on skeleton staff who were only allowed to maintain plants. They were not allowed to sell or propagate any plants and many of their crops were destroyed.

When shops re-opened there was a surge in sales, soon resulting in a flower shortage. This was due to growers not being able to propagate during lockdown. Other factors which affected the flower shortage: it was mid-winter, growth was slow due to extremely cold weather; no imported flowers were entering the country (placing an extra demand on NZ growers). Potted house plants were also very limited or not available at all.

The team at Fragrance of Flowers would like to thank their customers for their patience over the past four months. It has been a challenging time for everybody. We have always tried our hardest to be accommodating and fulfil your requests (especially for funerals) but unfortunately at times some substitutions were necessary. Thank you also for preordering flowers and for making appointments to ensure someone is at the shop for you.

As the weather begins to warm, and the world begins to awaken, imported and exported flowers begin to move across the globe and plants begin to become more readily available. People will begin to see the flower-cart reappear outside the shop…and it will be business as usual once again.