Beyond the pricey red roses are fields full of beautiful blooms

Call it the war of the roses.

By the end of Monday, millions of roses will have been dispatched from florists to flames, both new and old, making Valentine's Day a flower shop's single biggest day for rose orders, local florists say. Last year, about 198 million roses were produced nationally for the holiday, according to the Society of American Florists.

"I don't know if it's through Hollywood or where it got started, but sending a dozen red roses to someone means you want to have a romantic relationship with that person," says Kathryn Null, co-owner of Enchanted Florist.

Just as love is rarely a simple thing, neither is navigating the politics of getting roses from growers to wholesalers to retailers for Valentine's Day.

"This is the low season for growing roses, and that's one of the reasons florists have to raise their prices," Null says. "It's not that we're trying to make more money. We pay more for the roses."

The difference can be significant, from $85 a dozen when they are more plentiful to $125 a dozen, the common price cited by several local florists for this Valentine's Day.

Most roses sold in the United States for the holiday will come from South America, florists say.

The Valentine's Day rose dilemma has been around as long as Dave Filter can remember. Born into a family with a floral history dating back to 1910, Filter, who has owned English Garden Florist for nine years, has worked plenty of Valentine's Days. One year, he worked 38 hours straight just to get his shop through Feb. 14. He trimmed a lot of roses.

"It's an extreme amount of work for a short period of time," Filter says of the holiday. "And by the time I get all my product in, it's double what I normally pay. And people think it's all the florist's fault. I'm telling more people about it this year, because I think it's so unfair to florists and the buying public."

For this Valentine's Day holiday, he says he will pay 125 percent more than usual for roses.

Every year, florists say, wholesalers engage in another practice unique to Valentine's Day: If florists want to buy red roses, they must buy some other colors, too. And not just a random amount. Wholesalers usually set a ratio for red roses to colored roses. One company required Filter to purchase 75 colored roses for every 25 red ones he bought. Another enforced a 35 percent red to 65 percent colored roses purchase. In the past, that ratio was skewed more in favor of red roses, maybe 60 percent red to 40 percent colored, Filter says. But the balance shifted as red roses became firmly entrenched as the preferred flower of Valentine's Day.

"One year, I got stuck with a couple thousand colored roses because I needed all these red roses," Filter says. "So this year, I'll have 2,000 red roses, tops, and that will be it, tops. Once they're gone, they're gone."

He's selling a dozen red roses for $125, while a dozen colored roses costs $100. Colors vary from yellow to pink to white and others.

While red roses are the de facto flower of love, even among florists, they aren't necessarily the most fragrant. They've been bred for color, longevity, stem length and production. Basically, for every reason except fragrance, Filter says.

All this makes a good argument for going with a nontraditional flower arrangement instead of roses.

"Prices in general go up for all flowers on Valentine's Day, but the cost of those that aren't traditionally used can be much less," Null says.

Price varies depending on the size of the bouquet, but a dozen of anything usually costs less than the $125 price tag of a dozen red roses, florists say.

When ordering an arrangement, it's best to order the flowers you want and leave the actual arranging to the florist. They will add greenery and other floral touches that complement the bouquet, they say.

Once you decide to break out of the rose habit, the floral options are nearly limitless. Peter Friberi, owner of Gaia Flowers, Gifts and Art, suggests an arrangement made of dried flowers in a decorative vase is a good way to show your love. Filter likes tropical flowers for Valentine's Day because they are bright and unusual. Null recommends staying away from red, pink or white flowers if you're going with a more nontraditional arrangement.

But the best bouquet to send is one that has a person's favorite colors or flowers in it.

"My husband's favorite flower is tulips, and his favorite color is orange," Null says. "So I would send him orange tulips because they have more meaning to him. When you order an arrangement, go with what that person likes and send what they like."

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.