Miscellaneous and Schedule Items
Weather, Freight Costs Impact Mother’s Day Market- As previously reported, Colder/Cloudy weather in both Colombia and Ecuador continues to impact production on most BASIC items and Roses and will impact availability for the Mothers Day Holiday. In addition, as with every major holiday, freight costs increase about 35%, adding to the cost of product that is already higher due to high demand and lower supply. PREBOOK, PREBOOK, PREBOOK…this is your best strategy to get what you need at the best prices for the holiday. Make sure to check the Grower Direct section of www.dvflora.com and speak to your sales rep about your needs now.
Mother’s Day Extended Hours & Delivery Days:
- We will be delivering on Saturday 5/6 and Saturday 5/13
- Friday 5/5 the sales office is open until 6PM. DVFlora.com & our After Hours staff is available until 8PM for Saturday 5/6 delivery. (customers in New England, Western PA and Syracuse NY areas have a 6:00PM cutoff)
- Saturday 5/6 the sales office is open until 2PM.
- Sunday 5/7, DVFlora.com & our After Hours staff is available until 6PM for delivery Monday 5/8.
- Friday 5/12 the sales office is open until 6pm. DVFlora.com & our After Hours staff is available until 8PM for Saturday 5/13 delivery. (customers in New England, Western PA and Syracuse NY areas have a 6:00PM cutoff)
- Saturday 5/13 we will be open from 8:00AM – Noon. Your individual Sales Associate’s hours may vary.
Standing Orders:
- Regular Standing Orders the week of 5/8 will all be delivered on their normal day.
- Double up Standing Orders – Basics, Greens and Lilies will be delivered on Saturday 5/6. Roses, Novelties and fillers will be delivered on Tuesday 5/9.
DVFlora Web Users:
- From 4/30 thru 6/1 to handle extra volume of orders we need to Auto Submit dvflora.com Web Carts multiple times in the afternoon and early evening. This will allow DVFlora to handle the increased volume during the industry’s busiest time of the year.
- Auto Submit will occur at 2pm, 4 pm and 6pm and 8PM for all Customers that have an 8pm normal next day cut off. Customers in New England, Western PA and Syracuse NY areas have a 6:00PM cutoff for next day delivery.
Please help us to help you!
Mother’s Day week is one of the busiest weeks of the year. Please allow for some later than normal delivery times. Every effort is being made to limit any delays. One way to help is by taking advantage of our Saturday 5/6 delivery. If you need botanical, supplies or flowers and greens to start preparing this is the perfect day to take them. We kindly request you avoid the delivery of Botanicals and supply on Monday 5/8 in order to save space for fresh flowers and greens.
Basics
Fillers– We expect to have a good supply of Asters, Limonium, Statice, Laceflower for next week. It looks like Solidago Golden Glory will remain at lower levels of production for the foreseeable future.
Alstroemeria– We plan to have good quantities of Alstro for Mother’s Day, but it would be a good idea to order early to get the colors and quantities you need. We have already tried to increase our purchases on some varieties, but most farms are not taking additional orders at this time.
Carnation– Production continues to be impacted by the weather. Availability will be difficult and pricing will be high through the holiday.
Gyp– Production of Gyp is being severely impacted by the weather. It will be important to prebook Gyp for the holiday, or you may be disappointed.
Mini Carnations– As previously noted in this report, n addition to the impact of the poor weather, most farms have cut back on their production of Mini Carns year round, so the supply will be even tighter than usual this holiday. If you do not order early, it’s very possible we will not have what you want.
Lilies– Check out this new variety of Hybrid Pink Lily called Marlon. We expect to have this with some consistency, mostly in a 2-Bloom size.
Pom Pons- While we expect to have enough for Mother’s Day, production from most farms for the Holiday shipping period is Sold Out at this point. Prebook to guarantee you get what you need.
Mums– Disbud production is being impacted more than Pom Pons. Production is running a week to ten days behind. We expect problems for Mother’s Day.
Novelties
Lilac– Availability of Local Lilac should be a little better this year. Although some farms are reporting crop damage, it’s not as bad as last year’s frost damage.
Flowering Branches– Forsythia is done for the season. Local Pink and White Cherry Blossom are done for the season, but some is still available from Oregon. Local Pink Dogwood is finished, but some white is still available.
Anemone– We are seeing the end of the season in NY and Holland. Whatever is still available is VERY limited and VERY expensive.
Glads– Production in California has improved a bit. We will have most solid colors as well as the DVFlora 130 packs next week.
Japanese Ranunculus– It looks like the season is about finished. We will have a few Carno White arriving this weekend, and that will probably be the last of them.
Greens
We have been holding back as much as possible, but we can no longer avoid price increases on some key Greens items.
Salal– Long Salal continues to rise in price. We don’t recall it ever being so high in price. Salal Tips are more reasonable but also on the rise.
Pittosporum– Our Florida supplier has giving us a break in the six months since Hurricane Matthew, but can no longer hold those prices. We expect a substantial increase in price.
Leatherleaf– Leather continues to be limited and will be scarce for Mother’s Day. We are in a good position but we won’t have as much as we would like.
Hard Goods
Gourmet– Make sure you check out these new Gourmet items in the Mother’s Day flyer. Both of these are Made in the USA. Get ‘em while supply lasts.
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Fudge Bites– This combination should be illegal!
Lemon Buds and Peach Buds– These hard candies are great quality and the flavors are spot on.
California Crop Report
By Marc Robinson from our Transflora California Division
With Mother’s Day approaching it is important to be sure you are well informed. We do not see rain being an issue for the holiday but there will be some flowers that may not make the holiday.
- Waxflower is the first that we are concerned about. Although plentiful right now, quality production could end soon. We are taking a close look at farms next week to see how the quality is looking and if it could make Mother’s Day. Stay tuned!
- There is still a small flush of Lilies this week
- Stock in the desert is done and slow to come north
- Still tight supply on larkspur
- Outdoor fillers like Bbupleurum and lace are coming back
- Gerbera are in good production and quality
- Lilies, snaps, ranunculus, anemones and tulips are in good supply and excellent quality
- We are still seeing boronia and viburnum. Quality will be excellent this year because of all the rain over the winter months
- No Gunni, Seeded or Silver Dollar Euc, but a good supply of baby blue and willow
- We are starting to see some Delphinium and that will increase in coming weeks
Get your Mother’s Day orders in and as always let us know about any special orders that you may need!
