Flower growers impacted by pandemic
Courtesy of Wagner’s Greenhouse
Resident mascot, Bronco, at Wagner’s Greenhouse in Hickory, poses in the midst of Easter flowers.
Courtesy of Klug’s Greenhouse
Lily the dog rides in the back of a Klug’s Greenhouse delivery van surrounded by Easter lilies.
Courtesy of Klug’s Greenhouse
Klug’s Greenhouse in Bethlehem, W.Va., had to compost about 300 Easter lilies, as half the churches they typically service canceled their orders.
Easter weekend may have been a bust for local greenhouses and flower growers in the region, but they’re hoping to make up for it at Mother’s Day and with vegetable sales.
Darrin Wagner, the owner of Wagner’s Greenhouse in Hickory, had to compost about 500 Easter lilies, since the nearly 45 churches he typically services canceled their orders.
“Probably 500 of them we had to pitch,” he said. “It’s a total loss, basically.”
He said they only sold to about 15 churches this year, and those orders were much smaller than normal. The lilies he disposed of will later be turned into mulch for flower beds, he said.
“We did do some sales to nursing homes that we normally wouldn’t at a greatly reduced cost,” Wagner said.
He said he has seen an uptick in seed sales, as people are planting their own food right now. For now, he’s mostly doing curbside pickup, and limiting people in the greenhouses. He’s hoping some of the business restriction will be lifted by Mother’s Day.
“It’s less than four weeks away, and it doesn’t seem to be getting a whole lot better,” he said. “I’m unsure of the future. We’re growing and producing like normal, hoping that we sell it.”
Wagner isn’t the only one counting on good Mother’s Day sales. Ross Trax, with Trax Farms in Finleyville, was able to cancel his Easter orders in time, but he’s not open for business in the store right now. He’s hoping to open a drive-thru pick up area soon.
“We have about 500 landscape roses in the greenhouse that are in production right now, but we just haven’t had the capabilities to sell them,” Trax said. “We need to be open in order to sell them. There’s a captive audience out there that’s itching to work on their landscaping.”
Trax also suspects he’ll have higher vegetable sales than in the past, as people are avoiding produce in grocery store out of caution. That’s why Ron Klug, with Klug’s Greenhouse in Bethlehem, W.Va., anticipates an active spring for them.
“Honestly, I think it has made people want to grow and do more at home because everyone is staying home,” Klug said. “Spring will probably be good for us because more people are home and will be able to work in their yards.”
Klug’s business is both growing and he serves as a wholesaler. He said they’ve managed to stay open by folks paying over the phone and picking up their orders in boxes outside their facility.
The business took a hit at Easter too, as about half their usual church orders canceled. They too had to compost about 300 lilies.
“We thought about giving them to nursing homes, but with the strict social distancing guidelines, we thought that might be a bad idea,” Klug said.
Bob Baker, owner of Wintersville Cut Flowers in Wheeling, W.Va., said he’s only doing about 25 percent of the business that he normally would. Since he mainly deals with cut flowers, he’s missing opportunities with canceled weddings, graduations and prom. Mostly, as a wholesaler, he services many smaller flower shops and florists.
“I have supply, but demand has dropped,” he said. “The government shut down the businesses, so depending what state you’re in, the flower industry is not considered an essential industry, except for funerals and related services.”
Baker isn’t doing deliveries right now, and is leaving orders out on the dock for customers to pick up.
“We’re allowed to operate, provided you have social distancing,” he said.
One of his customers, includes Melissa Mega, owner of the Ivy Green in Washington. She said her business is still offering “no contact” deliveries on a limited schedule.
“We call the customers and tell them to look for an arrangement on their porch,” Mega said. “Everything is sanitized before it leaves the shop.”
She lost a lot of businesses too, from proms, graduations and dance recitals that won’t be happening. Mother’s Day, she’s hoping will still be busy with deliveries.
“The industry overall is struggling because of major east coast suppliers and a lot of the major wholesalers are shut down,” she said. “The supply chain is under pressure. Growers across the country are struggling.”
Debbie Falcione, owner of DLF Designs in Washington, is an event florist who also does holiday arrangements. She said many of the wholesalers she works with have shut down.
“I missed Easter and prom and who knows what’s going to happen with Mother’s Day because people may not have the money,” she said. “People are going to be more frugal because of the money situations. The industry will just have to adapt to whatever happens in order to survive.”