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Flowers become symbols of Valentineís Day romance, loveBy Barbara Brown Geri Wheeler, Lori Stauffer, Krista Rose and Pangie Nascene busily scurried around North Branch Floral Monday afternoon. At 4 p.m., a large white delivery truck arrived at and the driver easily dropped off seven large boxes and left the scene without a pang of guilt in leaving the employees to the hard work of cleaning and separating 1,500 flowers. The women quickly set to work, stripping leaves from long-stemmed roses, clipping the stems of tulips, iris and babies breath and arranging all the flowers into buckets of water to keep them fresh. Between that 4 p.m delivery and Thursday night, Wheeler and her assistants will have made and delivered hundreds of arrangements. Flowers of all shapes and sizes were quickly removed from their boxes and organized so that florists can easily access them for arrangements. But, thatís all in a Valentineís weekís work for Wheeler, who has owned North Branch Floral with her husband, Don, since 1986. Keeping up with the orders is not easy, Wheeler said. Someone always has to keep their ear out for the phone, whether they are making an arrangement or cleaning flowers. Red roses, the symbolic flower of love, are predominately the most ordered item for Valentineís Day, Wheeler said. However, North Branch Floral also does a significant business in carnations, lilies, iris and daisies. Wheeler started her own floral shop after working for several others in the area, including Flower Stall, Forest Lake Floral and the former Flower Barn. Now, she and her husband manage eight employees who all remain busy this time of year. Wheeler said prices for arrangments can range from $25 to practically any amount. She said the more rare or exoctic the flower, the more expensive the order would become. Wheeler said the roses she uses in arrangements come from South America or they are grown in Minnesota. Roses in the middle of the winter in Minnesota arenít too difficult with a properly maintained greenhouse. The arrangements delivered within a 15-mile radius of North Branch Floral are all made free-hand by florists in the shop. Although they work quickly, the floristsí artistic touches bring radiance and brightness to the arrangements. The flowers then are stored in a large walk-in cooler or in the west room. The west room is cool enough to keep flowers fresh because of recent chilly weather, Wheeler said. The room already was crowded with simple to extravagant arrangements by Monday afternoon. ìWeíll probably be here most of the night,î said Wheeler. No matter how stressful, Wheeler said she doesnít mind the work one bit. ìIt really is so fun.î ©ECM Post Review |