In the walk-in cooler at the back of Central Floral in Central Market on Wednesday, floral director Tracy Tungesvick propped open one of the swinging doors and scanned dozens of buckets brimming with flowers. The cooler was already full, she said, but by Valentine's Day next week it would be packed to the gills.
Tungesvick, who has worked with florals for 25 years, said Valentine's Day always requires months of preparation. She usually begins planning around Christmas, estimating how many of each type of flower she will need and at what price, for one of the busiest days of the year, rivaled only by Mother's Day.
"From year to year, I keep track of how many roses we sold," Tungesvick said. "I take really good notes after the holiday and go, 'OK, we had 30 pink carnations left,' so the following year I'll probably back off ordering those extra 30 carnations."
Central Floral sold more than 50 dozen roses last year — roughly 600 stems. Many of the flowers, especially roses, are sourced from farms in Ecuador and arrive in Detroit Lakes through carriers based in states such as Wisconsin and South Dakota after first landing at ports in Florida or California.
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