BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Fresh flowers are a Valentine's Day staple. And in one week, flower shops will be busy delivering them to people all over our area.
One company that's busy now is Dillon Floral in Bloomsburg. Dillon Floral is a wholesale distributor that sells flowers to around 500 florists within 120 miles of Bloomsburg.
"As we prepare for Valentine's Day we're probably handling ten times more flowers than we would in probably say July or August," Rob Dillon said.
While florists are typically busy on Valentine's Day and several days before, it's crunch time now at Dillon Floral.
"Phones are ringing, people are standing by your desk waiting for answers. You're checking to see if trucks have arrived or gone out," Wendy Nolan said.
Employees here need to get the flowers to the local florists, so they can deliver them to customers.
The signature flower of Valentine's Day is obviously red roses. There are three rooms here filled with red roses, and that's just the first shipment.
"We do a tremendous amount of business in roses. The roses come mostly from South America," Dillon said.
Employees expect to deliver more than 150,000 red roses over the next few days.
"They order right up until Valentine's Day itself. However, we started taking orders right after Christmastime," Nolan said.
Owner Rob Dillon hopes people will support small businesses this Valentine's Day.
"If you have to dial an 800 number you're not going to end up with the best product. Go to your local florist," Dillon said.
Next Thursday, employees at Dillon Floral can relax while all of these flowers are delivered to customers.