We will periodically be bringing you highlights of what’s going on across the markets – fresh and hardgoods alike. We’ll touch on topics like supply & demand, season beginnings/endings, weather forecasts and everything in between. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Enjoy!
Miscellaneous and Schedule Items
Holiday Schedule-
- We WILL be delivering on Saturday 12/17 and Saturday 12/24, with a limited sales staff from 8:00AM to Noon.
- Our Sales Staff will be on duty Friday 12/16 and Friday 12/23 until 6:00PM.
- After Hours Staff and dvflora.com will be open for orders until 8:00PM on Friday 12/16 and Friday 12/23.
- We will be CLOSED on Monday 12/26. No Deliveries.
- After Hours Staff and dvflora.com will be open for orders on Monday, 12/26 from 12:00 to 6:00PM for delivery on Tuesday, 12/27.
Holiday Logistics and Inventory- With both Christmas and New Year’s falling on Saturday’s it puts some added pressure on our inbound logistics. With limited shipments for the entire industry we have experienced overall shortages for the first week of the new year in prior years. Miami brokers will have shortages of inventory, and many people will be on vacation. Please prepare now for your needs for delivery December 27 through January 6. That’s a tricky week with no Monday delivery. Shops that plan and prepare well will be satisfied. Those that wait until Tuesday the 3rd will have access to the inventory that we have, and it may not satisfy your needs.
Distinctive Values– Please note that for the next couple of weeks we will not be mailing the Distinctive Values. It will be available only by email or on dvflora.com. Our next mailed edition will be for the week of January 9th. If you don’t already receive it via email, contact your sales rep and ask them to send it to you, or check for it on our website.
Basics
Holiday Related Items- As we look to wrap up the Christmas Holiday shipping period a few items have become very scarce. Red Mini Carnations are sold out in the marketplace through Christmas. This also impacts Holiday Pack Mini Carns. The market has also quickly tightened up on Red Carnations, Red Alstros and most other Holiday oriented items. Try to forecast your needs through the holiday and get orders to your sales rep before it’s too late.
Fillers- We have pretty solid inventory coming on most fillers, but White Limonium and White Statice are very limited. Most Laceflower growers are off crop due to the weather conditions, so we may not have enough to meet demand.
Leatherleaf- Growers in Florida expect production for Valentine’s Day may be down as much as 50%. We are already working on securing our supply from Costa Rica and Honduras to fill the gap. But you should expect prices to move even higher.
Alstroemeria- As noted above, Red Alstros are very limited, but we have a pretty good supply of Whites. Demand for Assorted boxes tends to be very low this time of year, so we try to keep our supply a bit light.
Carnations and Mini Carnations- Holiday colors are very limited and priced correspondingly high. We do have a couple relatively new varieties coming in next week in small quantities:
Cherno
Belle Epoque
Novelties
Stock- Demand for this time of year is typical- White, White, and more White. It is possible we will see shortages on White next week so get your orders in early. In order to secure white, growers require that we take other colors that are less in demand, so if you need White, try to find ways to use some other colors.
Larkspur– The transition from Central California to the Baja growing region has begun so production is limited. Unfortunately as of today there will be no white for next week. White is the first to end and the last color to start. The first cut of larkspur from the Baja all seem to be short in the 60/ 70cm range so expect the Larkspur to be shorter than usual. You can expect shortages on all colors for next week, and it will be some time before we see good quantities of white.
Snapdragons– Production of snaps in California and Canada has slowed. It appears that the White crop for Christmas flushed early, so we had plenty recently but could run low on white for next week.. Make sure that you buy sooner rather than later. Similar to Stock, there is no demand for colors.
Dianthus- We have a good supply of Green for next week. Demand for other dianthus has really slowed but we have a good supply of other colors and types, like Solomio, Breanthus and Star varieties.
Brunia, Berzilia, Coned Leucadendron (South African)- Starting around this time every year, many South African farms close during the “dog days of summer” to give their employees time off. This means that Brunia, Berzilia and some Leucadendron will be limited or possibly not available at all.
Gladiolas– As always this time of year the production in California comes to a halt. Glads will become very limited with the majority will be coming from Mexico. Expect shortages for the next month or two. The 130 packs of DV Flora glads will come to an end and we will not see them again until April.
Gerbera- Red Gerbera and Mini Gerbera are of course in extreme demand, so we are paying more than ever just to get what we are getting. Meanwhile we still have GREAT prices on Assorted from Canada, so hopefully you can find homes for some of those.
Hydrangea- There is plenty of production in South America. Chile has just started but has limited quantities so if you need specific colors get those orders in early. Holland is finished until spring, except for some Red/Green Antiques, which will end in another week or two.
Ranunculus– The Ranunculus season is slowly taking shape. More and more colors are becoming available. Clooneys have started, as well, but pricing remains pretty high on those. Expect White and Red to be expensive through next week.
Dahlias– Dahlia is still available in small numbers. We will not be bringing in a lot for speculation so please get your orders in early and we will do our best to fill them. There are Basic colors only – White, Pink, Café, some Burgundy.
Dendrobium- Due to holiday shipping schedules, we will not be having our usual mid-week shipment of Dendro for the next few weeks. That leaves limited options to procure more product for your special needs, so please try to plan ahead and get your orders in at least 10 days before you need the product.
Japanese Products – Sweet pea are coming into better production and will be in full swing by the new year. Anemones are very limited at the moment, but production should be better first week in January. The Ranunculus are getting larger each week and we will soon have the “Super” grade, then “Carno” and by February the “Rhone” which are the largest ones. New cymbidium varieties will be arriving over the weekend so give them a try. COMING SOON – New Sweet pea Box Sale. The mix will contain 25stems of four colors. Watch for details soon.
Roses
Red and White- As expected, these are very limited and high priced. We don’t expect that to change next week.
Colors- There is a good amount of most colors in the market, and prices are reasonable.
Sprays- Similar to standard roses, Red and White sprays are limited and high priced. Some varieties of Red we won’t have enough of, so try some of the other varieties like Pushkin, Mirabel and Rubicon. These are really nice varieties that open full and beautiful.
