Florists across the county are experiencing shortages ahead of the holiday. The cold snap that put Texas in the freezer earlier this year also hit South America.
“We get 90 percent of our rose crop comes from Ecuador. And they not only had snow and freezing weather, but they had marble size and golf ball size hail. And that did a number on the rose crop,” said Jeanette Ballien, owner of Gaudreau the Florist. Ballien said they lost about a quarter of their product.
“And all the prices went up. Everything went up. We knew that was going to happen, we prepared for it. Some things we took a hit on just to keep our prices, you know, I hate to pass that on to the customer all the time,” Ballien said.
Last year, COVID-19 set Gaudreau back about 30 percent. This year, they’re slowly making up the difference. “We have seen a spike in internet sales. Considerable amount. And I think it was, it’s just a matter of time and maybe COVID-19 gave it that extra boost for people, ‘well I’m going to try over the internet and see what I get,” Ballien said.
If you’re hoping to get a last-minute bouquet from Gaudreau, you are out of luck. Ballien is a mom and so is most of her team, they will be taking tomorrow off.
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