Valentine’s Day Grinch

Call me The Grinch of Valentine’s Day because I don’t enjoy flowers on this holiday! I’m a florist, I should love this holiday and the amount of money generated from flowers…nope. Here is why:

As an avid traveler, flowers are apart of daily life for people from their homes to restaurants to hotels and entire public gardens dedicated to lavish floral displays. I have found that the average American tends to only find value for flowers on Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. Why is this? There is a connection between love and flowers. Beyond that, flowers are just an accessory or a “nice to have.” Some people view flowers as a luxury item while others feel like they are a total waste because they die. Well, let me be the first to tell you that any organism with a life cycle with eventually wither away.

The Hype Comes At A Cost

Here is the next big shocker or not. The price of roses as well as other red and pink flowers are gauged for this holiday. Absolute nonsense and that price gets absorbed by the client.

Ignite Your Senses

The reason that this doesn’t align with me is because my perspective on flowers isn’t about the notion of like, love, or nice to have. For me, flowers are sensory organisms that change our environment. Did you know that flowers actually ignite 4 out of 5 senses – Sight, Touch, Smell, & Sometimes Taste. Name another accessory that does that? But, why does it matter? Studies show that human senses are connected to mood. Mood induces chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins that regulate emotions. Let me give you an example: You find yourself stressed at work, come home to flowers and instantly it makes you happy. That’s because the neurotransmitters in your mind are activated. This is very science-y and you all know my background is in forensic science, so I will apply logic as much as I can. Flowers increase happiness, reduce anxiety, and fosters emotional connection.

With all the info that I just gave you, shouldn’t you want flowers around everyday and not just on two prominent holidays. I’m usually not impacted on Valentine’s Day because I create floral design for weddings and corporate events. Plug: To all my hotel and restaurant friends, you can always contact me for holiday floral installation that drive a great return on investment. Back to the topic at hand. I always feel for my floral friends that have to make thousands of bouquets with finger cuts and achy back pain for clients that you know you will only see once a year.

If money is the motivator, then this holiday will see enormous amounts of it. However, from a value perspective I wish more people would understand the significance of flowers.

In Closing

Last year, I participated in the Washington, DC Fox 5 news segment on Valentine’s Day. It focused on creating a DIY bouquet and I wanted people to know that you can enjoy flowers everyday not just the day you purchase it from the florist. Exactly at the 26:10 time mark, you can check out the replay of my segment here

Let’s start making flowers apart of the daily routine. We would be a lot less stressed and a lot happier! May the joy of flowers find you 🙂