Bracing for the weekend rush, flower vendors here have been busy transforming stocks of chrysanthemums, carnations, roses, and other blooms into vibrant bouquets and garlands for this year's "Undas" (All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day) observance.
At flower stands along Carantes Street—called Baguio's "living street"—five long-stemmed anthuriums were selling for P180, while early buyers picked up Malaysian mum varieties such as "radus" (P100–P150 per bundle) and "remix" (P300 per bundle). Flower baskets sell for P300 to P500, about the same price range as last year.
Most of the city's cut flowers come from the Benguet towns of Atok, Bokod, Buguias, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Tuba and Tublay. As of October, production had reached 6.2 million dozens, enough to meet the traditional "Undas" demand, according to lawyer Jennilyn Dawayan, Cordillera director of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
From January to October, Benguet and other Cordillera growers produced 62.05 million dozens of cut flowers, with the biggest harvests in September (4.13 million dozens) and October (4.11 million dozens), largely made up of chrysanthemums, Dawayan said.
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