We will periodically be bringing you highlights of what’s going on across the markets – fresh and hardgoods alike. We’ll touch on topics like supply & demand, season beginnings/endings, weather forecasts and everything in between. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Enjoy!
Miscellaneous and Schedule Items
Petal it Forward- Reminder: The Petal It Forward program is happening on Wednesday, October 19th. Petal It Forward is a “random acts of kindness” type of flower giveaway, where consumers on the street receive two flower bouquets (or flowers)—one to keep and one to share.
We will have some specially priced bouquets if you want to hold an event in your community. These bouquets can be ordered through DV Grower Direct for delivery Friday, October 14th. Orders must be placed by Monday, October 3rd. To quickly place an order, just search “Petal It Forward” on the DV Grower Direct page.
Evergreens Prebook and Annual Cream of the Crop– Reminder: Make sure you get your evergreens orders in by October 3rd to get the best early prebook pricing. And contact your sales rep about the Cream of the Crop program- the deadline is October 2nd.
Basics
Limonium-All Limonium is in relatively short supply. Farms have lowered their plantings, since for years they had difficulty moving their complete production.
Gyp– Production continues to be somewhat lower. We weren’t expecting farms to cut our orders over the next few weeks, but it looks like some will be. In particular Excellence looks to be in shorter supply than expected.
Mums- As farms move to Fall production, White Football Mums will be more difficult to procure. While dedicated growing space remains the same at Mum farms, the percentage of colors grown changes toward more fall colors for the season. Most Fall varieties are now available but Red Tornado Disbud production is VERY low. Also, fewer and fewer California growers are growing Fall Disbuds like Garnet King, etc. It looks as though 3 out of the 4 growers who specialized in Fall disbuds are no longer growing them. They will be a VERY difficult to find item this year. As substitutes, have you tried Mum Spider Cocoa or Mum Disbud Bronze Four Ladies?
Glads- Local production has been very limited these past few weeks. We are getting all that they can provide us. We have been filling in with California as well as Michigan as needed since their production has been steady.
Roses
As difficult as it’s been, it is pretty typical for a September market. Production is at an all time low and demand is really strong. We probably have another 2-3 weeks of limited availability and really high prices.
Red- not a whole lot going on here. Good availability and good prices.
Colors– some colors and varieties are affected more than others. Yes, the varieties everybody wants are those impacted the most; Amnesia, Free Spirit, Sahara, Quicksand, Playa, Blacks, etc… This is industry wide and not only affecting us.
Garden Roses– These are not much different than color roses. Slim pickins! Try to be flexible with exact varieties and use what we have.
Botanicals
Hardy Mums– Please note that all of the mums will be tight or just cracking color at this time.
Cabbage & Kale – available now! We are trying something new this season and will be offering them by color in both 6in and 9in pots – pink, red & white.
Other Items- Florist Mums, Ornamental Peppers, Asters, Pansy, Hydrangea and Jerusalem Cherry are all available now. Gloxinia are very limited and Gardenia in 4” and 6” will be available around the end of the week.
Novelties
Larkspur- There will be extreme shortages next week as the main grower is in a very deep and unanticipated gap. It should get better in a week to ten days. Please keep in mind that the season in California is winding down and production levels will be much smaller then we have seen for the past few months.
Heather– We don’t expect to see any heather from California until October. There is a small amount of a variety called Erica Ovina coming from South Africa and some White Erica from New Zealand. Calycinia will come to an end soon. There is some available for next week and it is unlikely that we will have any for the week of Sept 26th and beyond.
Clematis- The season has come to an end. The last cut was this week. The season should pick back up in February.
Cymbidium– Dutch Cymbidium are starting back up. We will have Minis from Holland for next week. We will also have some Charley Brown. Make sure to ask about our Cymbidium Standing Order that starts soon and runs into May/June
Pumpkins and Gourds– One of our primary suppliers will NOT have anything for us this year. Unfortunately their crop is diseased and he had a complete crop failure, so these will be somewhat limited this year.
Anemone– This continues to be limited but we are fortunately able to fill most orders. Pricing has increased, especially on White.
Ranunculus– Dark colors are the hardest to get. They are extremely limited to begin with and the demand isn’t helping things. Be careful about promising Purple, Burgundy, Black, Chocolate, etc to your customers.
Gerbera and Mini Gerbera– The Canadian Gerbera and Mini Gerbera market has been tightening up over the last couple weeks. The Mini production from our three growers has dropped and left some shortages for demand items. Please sell by color and be flexible with specific varieties through the wedding and Fall season. Gerpoms and Gerrondos are in very low supply currently and the grower expects this to continue for another 2 – 3 weeks. We will have a nice selection of Gerbera from Holland including assorted, fall mix and solid colors to help meet your needs.
Hydrangea– Supply has been steady the last few weeks. Demand for Blue spiked up above our normal trends this week so we ran a bit short. We will have a great selection from Holland this week in both the “fresh” colors and some antiques as well.
