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BY TIM SPANGLER
Medill News Service | Thursday, January 25, 2007 | (No comments posted.)
Valentine's Day flower buyers may have lucked out.
Experts say the deep freeze that hit California last week might not lead to price increases or shortages of the most popular selections come Feb. 14.
"The early indication that we received was that (the freeze) is going to affect individual farmers, but may not affect the supply of flowers for Valentine's Day," said Dave Kranz, media services manager for the California Farm Bureau Federation.
"I don't think consumers will really feel this at all," said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau.
Larson said the majority of crop damage from the freeze will affect citrus fruits, winter vegetables and avocados.
The last freeze of this magnitude hit California over three nights in December 1998 and cost growers more than $700 million in lost crops. This year's freeze, spread over four nights, ruined an estimate $1 billion in crops.
Roses, the most popular flowers to give on Valentine's Day, may escape the effects of the freeze because they are grown in climate-controlled greenhouses, instead of open fields. Some flowers, such as lilies, snapdragons and orchids, are grown outside and may be in short supply.
Two-thirds of the flowers sold in the U.S. come from foreign countries. Columbia, Ecuador and Holland are among the largest exporters of flowers to the U.S., while California accounts for 25 percent of flowers sold nationwide, said Kathryn Miele, marketing director for the California Cut Flower Commission.
Tom Chakinis, manager of Kelly's Flower Shop in Chicago, said a potential shortage will increase the price of certain types of flowers "tremendously," but also said he was confident the freeze would not have a devastating effect on the Valentine's Day buying rush. Chakinis said some California flowers are easily replaced by importing them from different locales.
With Valentine's Day weeks away, Jan Berry, of the San Diego Flower and Plant Association, said the consequences of the freeze may not have reached their worst yet.
"I think they're still assessing the damage," Berry said. "A lot of it doesn't show up right away, but in time it does."
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