Holiday greenery — Christmas a top holiday for many floral businesses
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Debbie Arnsparger of Creative Expressions Florist, Altoona, specializes in arrangements with fresh greens and traditional Christmas ornaments as an accent.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Debbie Arnsparger of Creative Expressions Florist, Altoona, specializes in arrangements with fresh greens and traditional Christmas ornaments as an accent.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Debbie Arnsparger of Creative Expressions Florist, Altoona, specializes in arrangements with fresh greens and traditional Christmas ornaments as an accent.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Debbie Arnsparger of Creative Expressions Florist, Altoona, specializes in arrangements with fresh greens and traditional Christmas ornaments as an accent.
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The holiday season may not be as busy as Mother's Day, but it is an important time of the year for florists and greenhouse operators.
"Other than Mother's Day, Christmas is probably our biggest holiday. The Christmas season gives us an entire month to contribute to the holiday, where all of our other holidays are just a week or weekend contributing to that holiday," said owner/partner Travis Russell of Roots in the Cove, Roaring Spring.
According to the Society of American Florists, Christmas and Hanukkah rank first among holidays for sales of fresh flowers and plants ahead of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.
Poinsettia sales remain huge. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the total value of sales in the U.S. in 2022 was $213,711,000 and in Pennsylvania, it was $9,775,000. The total number of pots of poinsettias sold in 2022 in the U.S was 42,128,000, and 2,452,000 in Pennsylvania.
"Poinsettias are definitely our top seller during the holidays. They embody the Christmas spirit," said President Andrea Hammel of Peterman's Flower Shop, Juniata.
"Poinsettias are popular for several reasons, they are a bright pop of color in a dark and dreary time of year and they can have many traditional meanings for people," Russell said. "We do mixed poinsettia gardens with other houseplants in them, which are always popular and make a nice gift."
Red poinsettias are most popular, but others are available.
"We have red, white, marble and pink poinsettias but sell mostly red. We now grow our own poinsettias since we purchased Warner's. This enables us to control the quality better," said operations manager Chelsea Veneskey of Kerr's in Hollidaysburg.
Poinsettias are also the No. 1 seller at Potted Memories Greenhouse, Williamsburg.
"We also sell a lot of Christmas cactuses and other items in smaller amounts," owner Clay Shriver said. "It is best to buy a poinsettia from a greenhouse and not from a store. Here they are fresh, they have not been exposed to the cold. They can't tolerate the cold. If exposed to cold, they could wilt and never come back."
Local shops sell other Christmas items in addition to poinsettias.
Debbie Arnsparger of Creative Expressions Florist, Altoona, sells poinsettias but specializes in other items for the holiday.
Arnsparger uses fresh greens and uses traditional Christmas ornaments as an accent.
"I have a flair for handmade Sola (wood) flowers. I also take antique and vintage ornaments and make wreaths." She has customers across the lower 48 states for these.
"While centerpieces remain our top seller, we do sell poinsettias, wreaths and we always have a great selection of houseplants available. We also hand make grave blankets," said owner Amanda Benton of Vicki's Florist, Duncansville.
Christmas cactuses, Boxwood trees and centerpieces are also highly requested, Hammel said.
Customers should shop early and know what they are looking for.
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.