Miscellaneous and Schedule Items
Plan ahead for 4/17 Week– Please be aware that due to Holy Week, most likely there will be nothing shipping from Colombia and Ecuador Thursday and Friday next week. That means we will have limited options to procure additional or special order product for delivery to you. 4/17 week after Wednesday 4/12. Unless we have “guessed” what you will need, it will be hard to fill your orders. Please plan ahead and get your orders to your sales rep before Wednesday.
- Mother’s Day is May 14. You should have received your Mother’s Day packets already. Make sure your Standing Order Double Ups are set up with your sales rep before April 10.
- Administrative Professional’s Day is April 26. Start planning now so you can be ready Monday Morning for the first rush.
Roses
The market isn’t getting any better. In fact, prices have been rising steadily. The weather has gotten a little better the last few days, but we will need another few days of sun to have any impact on production. We hope to see more production in the next 7-10 days but we will have to wait and see.
Colors– Supply is extremely limited and prices are at or near VDay prices.
Reds– We expect to see some relief in the next week or so.
Basics
Carnations– Production is OK on Carnations, but farms will start to gear their availability to meet demand for Mother’s Day, keeping supply low and prices high for now. Prices will be fairly high for Mother’s Day.
Mini Carnations– The story is similar to Carnations, but with Mini Carns, all farms have cut back growing area for Mini Carns due to lack of year round demand. Pricing for Mother’s Day will be much higher than normal pricing. Prebook early to get the best price and to guarantee availability. Those who wait may be unable to get what they want.
Fillers– We have a good supply of most fillers with a few exceptions. Solidago Golden Glory is still in a production gap. Statice from South America is limited. Blue/Pink/Lavender Statice is always limited because only small quantities are grown due to a lack of year round demand.
Greens
Eucalyptus– Seeded Euc is still out of season but we continue to get all the Cup Seeded we can, as well as some Weeping Seeded. Silver Dollar has been a bit scarce but not too bad. Gunni Euc is also limited.
Florida Greens– We are still feeling the effects of the hurricane in terms of both supply and pricing. Plumosa, Tree Fern and Springeri are available but limited. Most other greens have decent availability.
Leatherleaf– We continue to struggle to match our supply to demand. We are getting as much Costa Rican as we can, but not as much as we would like. Florida is also limited, but we’re getting as much as we can. And we are still working with our Honduras supplier to perfect a reliable and cost effective way to get it here.
Novelties
Daffodils– We expect that out shipment arriving this weekend of cheap Field Daffs will be it for the season. Some larger regular Daffs will continue to be available for a while.
Ranunculus– We will see some local Ranunculus in the next few weeks. Be careful about promising these for special orders though- availability is not consistent and we can’t always get what we want. We basically take whatever they cut each week. Clooneys are starting to wind down and will end completely in the next few weeks.
Anemone– Italian Anemone is finished. We will have New York for a few more weeks. Holland is still available and there is some California to fill in the gaps if needed.
Callas– Weather in South America has impacted supply, and as demand picks up for Large White Callas, we are starting to feel it. Production on Green Goddess been almost non existent, but there has been little demand. However as event season starts we will start to feel the pain. Make sure you try our nice Easter Mix of Mini Callas for this week.
Stock– The supply of Stock from California improved a bit this week. Growers are transitioning from their desert areas to the Lompoc region. Rain and the marine layer are causing some quality issues but farms are working to limit that, as is our Quality team.
Larkspur– Excessive rain earlier in the year and extreme temperature fluctuations between day and night are causing some issues with Larkspur as well. We are going to try reducing the 6 packs to 5 packs starting this week to allow some air circulation in the boxes.
Waxflower– The spring flush will come to an end in a week or so. Take advantage of the very attractive prices this week, since availability will tighten up and prices will rise after this week.
