Miscellaneous and Schedule Items
Valentine’s Day is approaching fast. As always there will be some changes to our service schedule:
- We will be open and delivering on Saturday 2/9
- Saturday 2/9, our Sales offices will be open until 2:00PM. Please check with your sales Associate regarding their schedule.
- Standing Orders will be delivered on their regular days for the weeks of 2/4 and 2/11
- Standing Order Doubles will be delivered either Thursday 2/7 or Saturday 2/9 depending on the type of product
- Sunday 2/10 we will have a 2 PM order cutoff in order to process the extremely high volume of orders expected for Monday delivery
- Customers in, Syracuse NY, Shrewsbury MA, E. Berlin CT, Richmond VA, Cranberry PA and Wilkes Barre PA will have early order cutoffs on some days in order to keep delivery times as early as possible
- The Dutch Direct schedule will be normal for the entire holiday period
You can see the full schedule by clicking the link below:
http://www.dvflora.com/index.php/2019/01/24/valentines-day-2019-hours-schedule/
We expect some extremely heavy delivery days, particularly Feb. 7 through 9, and Monday Feb 11. We also anticipate delays to our inbound products, particularly from South America due to limited air freight capacity and extremely heavy volume. We will be working behind the scenes to compensate for these delays, and we will be doing our best to keep you informed of any delays or shortages that impact your orders.
Grower Direct and DVFlora.com
The Basics market has tightened up, so there is limited availability. Some farms are already removing their offers from Grower Direct. There’s not much time left to get your orders in. Early this week we will begin to cutoff the offers. That means you’ll see limited availability for the 4th/5th, then by Wednesday there will be very little offered for the rest of the Holiday. What will be left are some Canadian and Dutch offers, and few odds and ends.
Keep in mind you can also start ordering our regular inventory on dvflora.com for the holiday shipping period. Make sure to change your Ship Date to the correct date, and if there is product coming in for that time frame you will be able to enter your order for that date.
Roses
Things are shaping up nicely for Valentine’s Day. We think we are in good shape with what we have bought and sold so far. Production in some growing regions seem to be a tad early and other regions are on time and slightly late. If there was something alarming, we would know by now and we’re not seeing/hearing anything we are concerned about. We are still working on getting some more product to fill the later orders we expect.
Novelties
Gardenias and Stephanotis– Production is currently very low. We have almost nothing for early this week, and limited availability for later in the week. This will most likely be the case for a few weeks, so make sure to order early for your parties and events.
Callas– The weather has affected production of large White Callas, and a number of growers reduced our original orders. This is typical this time of year but it goes unnoticed due to low demand. You will begin to feel it as we head into the holiday. We may run out of particular ID codes early. We expect this to be the case for the next few weeks.
Stock– January has arrived. Unusually cold weather in the Desert growing region has stalled production, and the Baja has not kicked into gear. It was a little better this week and it seems the market has calmed. We continue to supplement our inventory with Ecuadorian stock where possible. We are expecting a very tight market for Valentine’s Day. We have not been able to keep up with the demand for Lavender and this will continue through the holiday.
Larkspur– Normally at this time of year we have very little larkspur to offer, the cold and rainy weather has made it worse this year. The California producers are finished and we are waiting for the Baja to begin. Purple is the only color that is readily available.
We have been supplementing our inventory with Ecuadorian Larkspur which has been nice. However, production from Ecuador is also very limited. Expect to run out early next week.
At this time, we are projecting very little larkspur for Valentine’s Day especially pink. We may struggle to fill orders.
Heather– Pink Heather from California is still available but is extremely limited. We asked the grower today what the chances were of them filling our Valentine’s Day orders and were told, “slim to none”. We will have a tough time filling the orders we have already, let alone any that you add from this point forward. There is still a supply of white heather and that is ready for Valentine’s Day sales.
Snapdragons– Short days, long nights, and cold weather is a recipe for limited production from California and Canada. Availability is limited and prices are high.
Snaps will be a challenge for Valentine’s Day. The production on Colombian Snaps is early and the California will be late. Prices for Valentine’s day are up considerably from the growers in California and Canada. As of today we are expecting Snaps to be a challenge for Valentine’s Day, especially pink.
Lilies – 2 Bloom Oriental production is VERY limited, especially as we move into Valentine’s Day. California Lily pricing will be moving upwards. Growers are seeing increased costs of production, including what is now the highest minimum wage law in the US. It is almost a guarantee those costs will be passed on in the form of higher selling prices. For Valentine’s Day production, California production seems to be coming on time, with potential of a slight delay. Costa Rican production is on time. Ecuadorian production is on time for LA’s and early for Orientals.
Greens
Emerald – Availability will continue to be an issue for another week to 10 days. Expired permits and the government shutdown has left the market almost completely dry. Emerald in all sizes, including Jade, is practically non-existent. Standing Orders will be an issue and we will have very little available for open market.
Leather – We have a container in port that we are waiting to be released so for early next week we will have shortages on leather from CR, including Standing Orders. Looking towards Valentine’s Day, the market is pretty good this year and we don’t foresee any issues.
Basics
The Basics market is moving about as we expect. Availability is tightening up on some items, especially Carnations and Mini Carnations. Much of what you read below is repeated from last week, but in case you missed it…
Carnations and Mini Carnations– Availability has become very tight. Farms have cut our Open Market orders of Mini Carnations by as much as 60%. We will be short on Mini Carnations for Valentines delivery. Get your orders in now to lock them in before it’s too late.
Queen Anne’s Lace – White Laceflower will continue to be VERY Limited due to lower levels of production. But we will have good availability of Green Mist.
Statice – Lavender, Pink and White Statice will be limited through Valentine’s Day.
Limonium – Limonium is not a plant that can be cropped for Holidays. Both White Limonium and Maine Blue Limonium will be extremely limited. With regards to Valentines availability, we will have VERY limited numbers of White Limo available and pricing is high.
Mums, Pom Pons – Pom availability is pretty good. The newer Disbud varieties seen over the past 4 months are being grown in limited numbers. Production is somewhat spotty as growers get used to the characteristic of each individual variety.
Please be VERY careful selling Red Disbuds for wedding work over the next three months. Production is VERY limited and not available on a regular basis.
