Mother's Day is nearly here, for the United Kingdom anyway..........the flower prices are set to rise as usual and the poor florists will be taking the usual stick; You must be making a fortune?? amongst many others......Well lets put the record straight.

I've been a florist for well over 20 years now and I am yet to see a florist who lives in a huge house, drives a Mercedes that they own and has several holidays a year so why, oh why do you all think we are minted. We don't dictate the flower prices, if we did believe me we would keep them at an affordable price for both you and us all year round. The growers and suppliers dictate the price we are lucky if we can make any profit on some items. Mother's Day and Valentine's Day for many florists is a peak period, huge outlay, huge wage bills to cover the extra work load and then when its all over you hope you've made enough people happy that you build your customer base a little.

See its these regular and loyal customers that we rely on, the ones who come in a few times a year, appreciate our work and skill and use us. If I relied on just my peak periods I would have gone under by now; its just depressing that we are the ones who catch all the flack. Believe me many people wouldn't do the hours we do, for the pay we get.....and pretty job??don't get me started, where did that idea come from. Up at silly o'clock to get stock, working for weeks on end without a break at some times during the year. Cleaning buckets, treating flowers, rough hands, grubby fingers....especially at Christmas but we are a happy bunch.

Then there is the notion that flowers from a supermarket are the same? really do you get the same customer service, gift wrapping , are you able to hand pick what you want and have them wrapped....do you get a card, do they deliver for you..........no I thought not

So please don't grumble when we have to ask for a little more money, you get what you pay for. Look into your florists face and try and appreciate the hours that they have spent creating all the lovely things in their shops. Don't jump in line to condemn us....trust me we are not making a fortune. And next time you dare buy a bunch from a supermarket, listen for that thud!!!! that the sound of another florist dying on the high street.......

We've had a tremendous Valentine's Day, even if I do say so myself. Its really lovely to see such a loyal customer base starting to grow but its through constant hard work, I like to think that we give excellent customer service no matter what our customers require of us and we are getting some really positive feedback.

It is a hard struggle when you own your own business, I'm sure other professional will agree and also suffer as we do with people who think they can do our job  but lack the knowledge and skill. It is a truly lovely profession and no two days are the same but often people just see a price on our work and don't realise the skill that goes into it.

 Hours spent learning the seasons in which your materials are available, how to produce funeral tributes and wedding designs and produce to a high standard. Flowers that will with stand the occasion they are meant for.....wedding flowers from a professional florist will easily last several days because they have been prepared correctly. Funeral flowers which will sit at the graveside, some of mine have lasted weeks so I'm told, so that the family can go back many times to see the flowers before they are past there best.

Most florists will agree that they never stop learning, we constantly evolve and our industry does to. We are also slowly seeing our profession eaten away at by relay companies that swamp the internet and kid you into thinking you are dealing with a florist or a  Funeral Directors that make it seem easy to order your flowers from them.....and yes it is but they fail to tell you you will pay more for them, their handling fee or commission; call it what you will.

As with everything you get what you pay for, yes I tell my customers that stem of lily may be a little more expensive but when it lasts for three weeks, break the cost down and how much per week are you spending? I joke with some of them that I only see them once a month, that's because some flowers have an exceptionally long vase life and that's what I aim to give my customers; value for money.

So this blog is from one little independent florist, who stands with many other independent florists and will fight our corner till the bitter end. Support your local florist you won't be disappointed.

So we have less than a week to go until Valentines Day and snow is on the way!! But don't worry bad weather means you can shop local and use your local florist, better than getting flowers in a box.......who is that going to impress.