DV Flash Report Week 10

Novelty

• Stock growers in the “Desert” are now harvesting what should have been their Valentine’s Day crop. As a result we seeing a drop in price. We expect this to continue for another week before supply and price levels off. Our Quality Control team and product manager have been working with the growers to solve some of the issues we have been seeing lately especially in the darker colors.
• Larkspur is a summer crop and continues to act like a summer crop. We are still seeing limited supplies and no white coming from California yet. White is most affected by the cold, slowing the seed germination and its development in the fields. We are able to supplement white from Ecuador and Israel for next week’s sales.
• We are starting to see more Bella Donna light blue and dark blue Delphinium come into the market. There is nothing new to report on Hybrid Delphinium. There still is nothing being offered from California.
• Production on Snapdragons from California has increased and the prices came down this week. This is due to higher production and lower market demand. There is a shortage of pink snaps from Canada but a good supply of other colors at much lower prices.
• Check out some of the different items we are able to bring in this week. We will have some Dog Eye Euphorbia and some White Eriostemon. There is Kiwi Vine, Iceland Mix Poppies, Wheat Grass, Rosemary, Ring of Fire and Mahogany Sunflowers.
• There continues to be limited California Laceflower production for the next 3 weeks.  We will have s fairly decent quantities of Esmeralda Lace. This is the heavier variety of Laceflower.
• Have you ever tried Lilies from Mexico? The farm we purchase from uses a larger, high quality bulb grade for their production. The stems are thicker, grading is taller, and blooms are fuller and usually 4 plus blooms. They are featured on our Distinctive Values mailer this week.

 Basics & Greens

• We will start seeing the beautiful Canadian Alstroemeria at very reasonable prices starting Wednesday this week.
• Our industry is a worldwide market and there are a few holidays that will typically affect price and availability of some basic product lines. Coming up is Russian Women’s Day on March 8th and then followed by U.K.’s Mothers Day on March 14th.
• We should expect some shortages and increased pricing on Carnations and white Anastasia Spider mums to name a few, due to these international holidays.

 Botanical

• Our beautiful locally grown Cyclamen plants are back in 6.5” and 4.5” sizes this week.

• Only one more week left on our Palm plant promotion. We have 10” Bamboo Palm plants at a great price.
• St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner. We will have the “Real” Shamrock plants Green 4” Oxalis plants.
• We have started receiving some of our first shipments of locally grown bulb plants. Our Easter price list will be out in a few days, ask your Sales Associate for availability and pricing.

Fillers

• There is good production of Waxflower in particular the hybrid varieties and purple pride. Production of the regular pink and white remain very low, as these are some of the later varieties. Pricing dropped considerably this week mainly due to the weak market demand.
• Availability of Heather has tightened up a little, causing a slight price increase.

 Look For…

• You will be receiving a number of flyers inserted in our Distinctive Values mailer over the next few weeks.
• If you have not heard about our Grower Direct Program, check out the flyer sent out this week. This program is a revolutionary, fully automated, user-friendly method of connecting our customers directly to some of the finest farms in the world.
• Eye On DVFlora…Your Gateway to the Floral Industry Provided by DVFlora! Check out our new Blog for up to date industry information, inspiration articles and many other important source of current information directly affecting our industry. The web address is http://eyeon.dvflora.com.  

 Supplies

• Our original Raffia Hank, S4958, from Knud Nielsen, shown on page 192 in Essential Supplies, will be here approximately 3/5/10. We have started carrying another vendor of Raffia in the following colors, Chocolate, Country Blue, Red, Rust, Sage Green and Salmon.
• Keep your eyes on www.dvflora.com and for our flyers being mailed out, lots of good stuff coming!

 Delaware Valley’s Farm program

 Insignia is the DV Grade and Standard program for fresh cut flowers to assure Product and Service consistency and quality, which ultimately benefits our customer. In total there are 23 farms and 17 product categories currently participating in the Insignia Program. Many of the farms we do business with are Insignia certified by us and some are also VeriFlora Certified Sustainably Growers. http://www.veriflora.com/ 

 Insignia Program Update:

• The Insignia Product Scorecard is sent electronically every six months to our suppliers.
• The Insignia product is scored and certified by product subcategory.
• The Insignia Product certification at the farm will be performed once a year.
  (Next Insignia certification will be performed in August 2010 for the time period from July 2009 to June 2010).

 Product Info…

 California Dreamin’…on a “Winters Day” By Jason Edmonds

Scabiosa

 Scabiosa Incisa is a fast-growing perennial that designer’s use typically for wedding work although it use is not limited to that platform however it’s dainty appearance and its gorgeous lavender or white color lends itself to many a weekend center-piece.

 Scabiosa can sometimes grow up to two and a half feet feet tall.  Modern varieties used in our industry are shorter, usually around 60cm . While growing, it forms a number of stems on the ground, which will turn slightly woody with age at the base. The finely divided leaves form opposite each other along the lower part of the stems. The older leaves at the bottom of the stem turn brown and fall off as new fresh green leaves are formed. The soft leaves are slightly hairy at the top and bottom. The beautiful flowers are formed on long, naked stems from early spring to the middle of summer (September-December). The straggling stems vary in height but can stand up to 430 mm high with a single flower head at the tip.

 A closer look at the flower reveals individual flowers that are crowded together to form dense flattened flower heads. The looser flowers along the outside have longer petals that form a frilly edge, whereas the flowers in the center are much smaller and compact to form a tight button effect. After flowering, the seeds are formed in interesting rounded bristle heads known in the industry as Scabiosa Pods. These will slowly fall apart as the seeds ripen and are ready to be blown away by the wind.