TOWSON, Md. — If Santa gave flowers on Valentine’s Day, this would be his workshop. And these would be his elves.
It’s T-minus two and counting to Valentine’s Day, and the team here at Radebaugh’s in Towson is busy prepping for Friday, with fourth-generation owner Kaitlin Radebaugh at the helm.
The heat is on?
“The heat is on and especially, obviously, weather plays a part,” she says.
Americans are planning to spend a record $2.9 billion on flowers for Valentine’s Day.
“It looks like people are really loving flowers, which is great, for their Valentine’s this year,” Radebaugh says.
This year, Valentine’s Day is the start of a four-day holiday weekend. Radebaugh says that usually means less flower orders. But not this year.
“Traditionally, when Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday, we actually see a decrease,” she says. “There are other options. Maybe sometimes people are going out to dinner or people might be going away. However, we’re actually tracking ahead of last year.”
Radebaugh started stocking up six weeks ago, ordering roses from Colombia and Ecuador.
“We try to get our counts in as early as we can because the farms will max out,” she says. “There’s only so many red roses in the world.”
The U.S. gets over 70 percent of its cut flowers from South America. Radebaugh’s heard about proposed tariffs by the Trump Administration on those imports. She’s more concerned about the items used to put together a floral arrangement than the actual flowers.
“It’s a lot of little things that, you know, add up to big numbers,” Radebaugh says. “And a lot of them are coming from China or around Europe, depending on the glassware. That could be a much more substantial increase for us.”
Meanwhile, the orders keep pouring in here, by phone and online. So, if you’re planning to order flowers for Valentine’s Day, Radebaugh has some advice for you.
“Yeah, time to do it.”
Of course, their shop will be open on Valentine’s Day until 6 p.m. for all you latecomers. And they’ll have some ready-made selections for you to grab and go.
