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VALLEY — Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for florists. According to the Society of American Florists (SAF), it’s the number one floral holiday based on consumer purchases of fresh flowers and plants. As one of the most significant days on a florist’s calendar, Valentine’s Day presents an exceptional opportunity for a florist to showcase their creativity and to boost sales.

Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday this year. The week leading into it was a very busy period for local florists Steve Sorrells of the House of Flowers and LuAnne Sims of Floral Creations.

Both marked significant milestones as Valentine’s Day florists this year. Sorrells has been in the business for some 55 years and Sims has had her floral shop for 35 years.

This was the 41st Valentine’s Day for Sorrells in his present location on Highway 29 in the heart of Valley. He’s been there since 1992.

He took over the business his parents, Theron and Rachel Sorrells, had started in 1970. At one time he and his parents were competitors. Theron and Rachel had the shop in Langdale while he was running Valley Florist in downtown Lanett. It had never been cut-throat competition; it was more of a family sharing the common interest of a love of flowers.

Sorrells has been in the business long enough to witness a major change.

“Up until the 1980s, Mother’s Day had always been the busiest time of the year for florists,” he said. “Valentine’s Day took over in the 1990s and has been the busiest period ever since.”

Mother’s Day is still significant but not on the same level it once was.

“I don’t know why that is, but we florists understand that’s the way it is and prepare for it each year,” Sorrells said.

Sorrells and wife Teena was busy all week long getting ready for the 14th. On Friday, they had three delivery vans making deliveries in the 350-square-mile area surrounding their shop.

“We were running all day,” he said. “We go north to Fredonia, south to the main bridge over Lake Harding, east past the Kia plant and west toward LaFayette.”

“My parents taught me everything I know about flowers.,” he said. “I started my own business in 1984. I bought Valley Florist from Vinell and Eugene Robertson. It was located in downtown Lanett across North Lanier Avenue from where Skip McCoy’s law office is today. It worked out pretty good for our family. My mom and dad had one end of town and I had the other.”

What’s popular on Valentine’s Day?

“A dozen red roses is still king of the day,” Sorrells said. “That hasn’t changed.”

What has changed over the years is where those red roses are grown. The ones Sorrells and most other florists sell are grown in greenhouses in Colombia and Ecuador. The mountain climate there is ideal for it.

“The climate in the U.S. is not ideal for growing flowers,” Sorrells explained. “We do buy some flowers that are locally grown, but the bulk of what we buy is from outside the U.S. We get most of our flowers from South America. We also get some from Canada and Holland.”

Sorrells has some concern about President Donald Trump’s plans to have tariffs on foreign imports. They will almost certainly raise the cost of doing business in the U.S. and for consumers to pay more for what they have always been purchasing. As much as 40 percent of what is bought and sold in the U.S. is imported.

During the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, Sorrells spends much of his day making floral arrangements. He has become quite an artist at it over the years.

“The red and white arrangements are popular this time of year,” he said. “Most of the purchases are made by men who are getting gifts for their wives or sweethearts.”

There are purchases as well for daughters, granddaughters, sisters and mothers.

On some days, Steve and Teena are at the shop taking care of business past the midnight hour. With Valentine’s Day taking place on a Friday this year, the weekend will be a time they can crash and get some much-deserved rest.

Valentine’s Day is a peak period each year for the House of Flowers. It generates as much as five percent of its annual business on that one day.

Like the Sorrells family, LuAnne Sims has been in the floral business for several decades.

This is her 35th year on Trammell Block in the Fairfax community. She started out on the left end of the block in 1990. She later relocated to her present space on the right end of the block.

Valentine’s Day is a family affair for the Simses. LuAnne leads the way in getting the needed work done but gets plenty of help from husband Darryl, daughter Joy and her children.

“When I first started out in the business there were floral shops up and down the Valley,” she said. “Now there are only a couple of us in the business. It has been good for us over the years, and I have enjoyed it. I love the opportunity making floral arrangements allows you to be creative. Fresh flowers always bring joy into people’s lives, and I’m glad I have helped people do that.”

Sims has moved lots of arrangements out of her shop this week. “The red roses are always big this time of year,” she said, “but there have been more requests for pink ones this year.”