Since the observance of the first Mother’s Day, flowers have been and continue to be the preferred gift for Mothers around the world. Few occasions can make or break the reputation of a flower shop or supplier the way Mother’s Day can. This is one of the most critical holidays to any flower business, Mom is happy with her flowers and you’ve just created a repeat customer for the rest of the year. Paying very close attention to sanitation, cooling, care and handling during this hectic shipping period makes all the difference in the stems leaving the shop and in the overall experience of your customer.

Your floral suppliers do a great job for you all year long delivering you consistently fresh, top notch stems. So why the concern? It’s simple mathematics, in order to meet increased demand and shipping deadlines growers need to harvest and store stems a little longer than normal. A common practice to accommodate holiday shipping volumes as long as the cold chain is maintained throughout the journey from harvest to retail you have no issues. Because flowers have been in dry, cold storage a little longer than normal it’s a good idea to give a little extra TLC. Here are our top do’s and don’ts to get you and your staff started on the path to best practices this Mother’s Day!

Do

• Clean & sanitize cooler floors, walls, shelves, sinks, before the holiday rush.
• Sweep cooler floors daily to rid them of  leaves, petals or stems that may carry disease spores.
• Clean & sanitize buckets after every use.
• Clean & sanitize design tables, knives, clippers several times daily.
• Inspect & process flowers immediately upon arrival.
• Re-cut stems 1-1.5” with clean, sharp clippers or knife, unless using Floralife’s no cut flower food (Floralife® Express Technology).
• Carefully follow directions measuring flower food.
• Remove sleeves from flowers when processing to keep flowers dry & minimize botrytis.
• Monitor cooler conditions 3 to 4 times daily.
• Keep temps at 34-38 F & humidity at 70-85%.
• Use flower food solution in all arrangements.
• Provide customers with how to instructions & flower food sachets to make a quart of solution.

Do Not

• Do not store or display flowers outside of the cooler until you are ready for them to start opening.
• Do not cut flowers underwater or use hot water to hydrate.
• Do not take stems out of solution once they are cut.
• Do not allow fruits, vegetables or other food products (lunches) in the cooler.
• Do not assume! Assign tasks on your Do list to staff and advise everyone of the Do Not list.

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To learn more about best practices from the experts in flower care, visit www.floralife.com