COLUMBUS, Ohio — This weekend is one of the busiest for florists and flower shops.
With Valentine’s Day on Monday, many shops are getting ready to ship flowers across central Ohio.
However, the pandemic has caused the process of getting some of the flowers to drag.
Griffin’s Floral Design President Russ Griffin said some of his roses have traveled thousands of miles before they’re delivered to your doorstep.
Griffin added that while his business is not expected to run into a flower shortage, it is running into shipping issues.
Griffin’s Floral Design is expecting to ship close to 2,000 orders. A lot of the flowers such as roses and carnations come from South America.
This year, producers are running into delayed flights and staffing shortages at airports and within the trucking industry.
“Usually, it’s a three-day turn around. Some companies are experiencing anywhere from five to 10 days,” Griffin said. “Some people aren’t even getting product, so it just sits there in South America. There’s pallets and pallets of product and it just sits there and it all ends up being thrown away.”
Griffin said his business will start delivering the orders Monday morning.