Hearts and flowers

Barbara Diamond

Business blooms on Valentine’s Day at Laguna’s florists and bucket

shops.

“Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for me,” said

Dwight Goldblatt, floral designer and owner of Flowers Too at 1427

South Coast Highway. “Multiply an average workday by 10.”

Retired designer Gary Bowman will lend a hand to Goldblatt and

designer Richard Barinsen to handle the rush.

“Roses are the number one order,” Goldblatt said. “Men don’t know

a lot about flowers, but they do know roses. Ironically, most growers

are men.”

A trend Goldblatt applauds is women buying flowers for men, often

sent to their offices.

“Men love the attention,” Goldblatt said.

He also fills many orders from men to men and women to women.

“I am located right next to the Boom,” he said, referring to one

of Laguna’s iconic gay restaurants and nightspots.

If a customer is willing to listen, Goldblatt will suggest some

alternatives to the traditional red roses for Valentine’s Day.

“There is a big trend toward tulips, which are now domestically

grown in greenhouses and available year-round,” Goldblatt said. “I’ll

probably go through 800 tulips for Valentine’s arrangements, but I

will go through 1,200 to 1,500 roses.

“Exotics last longer, so they are really a better buy.”

A gift of flowers may fade all too soon.

Black Iris partner Bill Merrill said fresh water is the key to

keeping an arrangement perky.

“If the arrangement is directly in water, not oasis, it is best to

change it every other day,” Merrill said. “Tip the vase to the side

and empty it -- then immediately refill it.”

Aspirin is not necessary. Black Iris designers put preservative in

the water with their arrangements, but it doesn’t need repeating.

Merrill said he has heard of putting a teaspoon of sugar in the

water, which helps the stems draw in the moisture.

Black Iris, at 2950 Coast Highway, began its 24th year in Laguna

in December. The shop has a design staff of five, headed by James

Davis, three assistant designers and two flower cleaners, who strip

lower leaves and thorns and cut stems on the diagonal, for better

water absorption.

The whole staff is working full tilt and will take orders right

through Valentine’s Day, one of the busiest days of the year at the

store. Another is Mother’s Day, but ordering differs.

“We most often live near our lovers, but we don’t always live near

our mothers,” Merrill said. “So a lot of Mother’s Day orders are

wired out -- all over the world.

“We order by phone, rather than by computer, to make sure our

customers get what they want as best as possible. We feel voice is

best.”

Flowers speak to us all, but interpretations differ.

Goldblatt said a red rose stands for love, a white rose for

purity.

The reproduction of “The Language of Flowers,” a little book

handwritten in 1913, has 39 listings for roses, some by color, some

by names no longer familiar and some still popular.

Rose, by itself, translates in the book to “Love,” with a capital

L. A red rosebud means “pure and lovely;” a deep red rose stands for

“bashful shame,” but a mixed bouquet of red and white roses

symbolizes unity. A white rose on its own means the giver is worthy

of the recipient, according to the book.

Gloire de Dejon rose is “a messenger of love,” but the giver of a

La France rose might have a different motive; an invitation to “meet

me by moonlight.”

A bouquet of pink and white roses means “I will always love you,”

floral designer Valentina McFarland said.

McFarland is the designer for Browne’s Flowers, which has stores

in Dana Point, Corona del Mar and a stand at 2094 1/2 South Coast

Highway.

McFarland built the little oasis of color in Laguna in 1986.

“Almost everyone wants roses, but not every one has a lover,”

McFarland said. “We make little mixed arrangements with a stuffed

animal for children. We also have heart-shaped topiaries. “

She orders about three times the usual number of roses for

Valentine’s Day, in a variety of colors. The standard for moms is

two-dozen red roses, McFarland said.

Surprisingly, the little pink “Sweetheart Roses” are not big

sellers on Valentine’s Day.

“We carry them, but they are just not in demand,” McFarland said.

The new owner of Stems is doing her best to create a demand for

Valentine’s Day bouquets.

“We have put out fliers, sent mailers and contacted past

customers,” said Pam Swailes, who took over Stems on Feb. 1.

She ordered four times as many roses as usual to be prepared for

Valentine’s Day orders.

Swailes also will offer alternatives to roses for those who don’t

like them or don’t care and would like something different.

“Roses are easy, but some people don’t like them,” Swailes said.

Roses are eclipsed at the English Garden at 1199 South Coast Highway. The store’s European-style arrangements of orchids,

hydrangeas and roses are the most requested.

The design team will spend this weekend, mostly Sunday, filling

orders for Valentine gifts.

“It surpasses Mother’s Day and I have a theory about that,” owner

Anita Rohloff said. “Everybody has a mother, but they might have more

than one sweetheart, which could include their mother.”

Arrangements by designers Shawna McCathren, Char Walker, Lani

Bonnot, Nikki Bedrick and Anita Rohloff each take between 10 and 20

minutes.

“You learn to work fast when you are under the gun,” Rohloff said.

Training, experience and talent all help.

“You can learn the mechanics in school, but artistry is inherent,”

Rohloff said. “And I really recommend working with a talented

designer.”

Rohloff said about one quarter of her Valentine customers will

order a dozen or two dozen roses, but most customers patronize the

store for its designs.

“We don’t compete with the bucket shops or supermarkets,” she

said.

Super markets offer bouquets of roses all year round, but they

order extra for Valentines’ Day.

Ralphs Grocery Co. makes its large order of Valentine flowers a

month ahead, said Victoria Butterfield, manager of the Laguna Beach

store at 700 South Coast Highway. A dozen roses costs $19.99, “while

they last.”

Albertson’s Market at Aliso Creek Shopping Center in South Laguna

has roses for $19.99 a dozen and pre-made arrangements at various

prices. Sav-On Drugs, under the same ownership, began stocking roses

today, priced at $19.99 per dozen, manager Bill Stott said.

Customers can buy a dozen roses for $18.99 or arrangements in a

vase for $39.99 everyday at Pavilions, 600 North Coast Highway. A

special Valentine’s Day “Candy Kiss Bouquet” costs store club members

$7.99.

“I order four times as many roses for Valentine’s Day,” said

Pavilion’s Barbara Wolosz.

The store is open until 11 p.m. for late night or forgetful

shoppers

Bill’s Flowers stand at 30622 Coast Highway will be open at 7 a.m.

Valentine’s Day and will stay open at least until 9 p.m., maybe 10

p.m., to make sure no customers go home empty-handed.

“They count on me,” said Bill Volz, who has owned the stand for 26

years. “I’ll have customers from the minute I open, until the minute

I shut the door.”

Bottom line: when you speak of love, even if you say it late, say

it with flowers.