‘Enough flowers for Valentine’s’

FLORISTS are confident there will be enough flowers for next week’s St Valentine’s Day with producers confirming they have more than enough stocks to meet demand unlike what happened last year when flowers were imported from Kenya.

St Valentine’s Day is an annual festival celebrated on February 14 to rejoice romantic love, friendship and admiration.

The director of a Harare flower company, Florique, Mrs Yolanda Moyo, said people had been ordering flowers since January with producers confirming they still have enough in stock for the day.

“We are confident of having more than enough for the local market because smallscale farmers who produce roses for this event started pruning in January to make room for four weeks before St Valentine’s Day. All the people I know who are into the business have more than enough,” she said.

Mrs Moyo said the leap year thing was not working as men were ordering flowers for their lovers since January.

Flowers are sold either as single stems or bunches with locally produced ones priced at between US$8 and US$12 for a bunch with 10 stems depending on type and length. A large bunch of about 200 stems sells for US$500.

People can also import from Kenya depending on preferences. Roses from that country are expensive, have bigger heads and longer stems compared to those produced locally due to climatic differences.

She said last year, rose flowers imported from Kenya were sold at prices of US$12 per stem.

Mrs Moyo said those with lean budgets can buy one stem rose, signifying that the recipient is their only love.

The red rose is the most common flower accounting for 90 percent of all sales with the remaining 10 percent coming from a mixture of red and white or pink and white, she added.

The shelf life of the flower depends on how the farmer cared for it. Generally, if it is coming directly from the cold room, it can stay for four days. If it is coming from the field it can stay for over a week.

Flower producer, Mr Gordon Makoni said last year’s rose flower demand during the Valentine period outstripped supply resulting in them going to Kenya to import to augment local production.

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