BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Valentine's Day is one of the busiest times of the year for florists, and this week, it's crunch time at Dillon Floral.
The wholesale florist provides fresh flowers, plants, and accessories to more than 500 retail shops.
"Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, those are the two big times of the year. We'll send about 130,000 stems of roses out of here in the next week," Patrick Dillon said.
"Our volume is probably four times what it would normally be in a week," Walt Deitrick said.
Employees here need to get the flowers to the local florists so that they can deliver them to customers.
The flowers come from all over the world, and deliveries are constant.
"We get flowers from mostly South America, Holland, California, and Canada," Dillon said.
Roses are the big seller, of course, but employees say people are gravitating away from red towards other colors.
"Carnations as well, gerbera, gypsy, but roses are definitely a top choice," Dillon said.
As for prices, the team here says they are about the same as last year.
"There was a big trend of high increases. A lot of that had to do with trucking, shipping and fuel costs, and labor costs, and that's leveled off," Deitrick said.
Because it is so busy, Dillon recommends getting your Valentine's Day orders in as soon as possible and to order them from an actual florist.
Dillon hopes people will support small businesses this Valentine's Day.
Next week, employees here can relax while all of these flowers are delivered to customers.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.