PHOTOS

Florists prepare for Valentine’s Day

Photos by Briana Pace

Design and development by Matei Cloteaux

Published Feb. 15, 2025

A florist in a Kent State hoodie carries a bucket with pink roses in it.
An elderly woman in a pink sweatshirt holds some blue flowers.
Bunches of perpared flowers in a variety of colors.
A florist in a black jacket and grey hat looks over her shoulder
A pile of green flower stems.
Cuttings from roses are on a concrete floor.
A pair of wizened hands holds a bunch of pink roses and a paring knife.
A florist cuts a red and white polka-dotted ribbon from the roll.
A rack with first aid equipment hangs above a bouquet of flowers
A woman in a blue coat looks at a rack of flowers
A man in a winter hat gives some directions to other people in the lower shop.
A person in a red shirt loads balloons into a car.
Someone in a red sweatshirt talks on the phone while working with flowers.
Two women embrace in the flower shop.

Lisa Heart, owner of Judy’s Flowers and Gifts, carries a bucket of flowers to the shop’s walk-in cooler Feb. 11, 2025, in Bloomington. Judy Phegley, Heart’s mother, opened Judy’s Flowers and Gifts 43 years ago. Heart took over the shop for her mother who now works part-time, except around Valentine’s Day. The two said Valentine’s Day is the shop’s busiest day of the year.

Lisa Heart (left) prints an order and Judy Phegley pulls flowers to cut Feb. 4, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. The two said that they started ordering more flowers in October to prepare for Valentine’s Day.

Buckets full of flowers are seen in a cooler Feb. 11, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Heart said that the price of every cut flower goes up on Valentine’s Day. “It’s just supply and demand,” Heart said. “They have to produce so many flowers for one day.”

Lisa Heart talks to her co-workers while getting ready to cut a stem Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Heart and Phegley arrived at the shop and began working around 6 a.m. that morning. “It’s a lot of fun,” Heart said. “It’s just a lot of hard work. People don’t realize how hard you work.”

A pile of cut rose stems is seen Feb. 11, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Heart said they had an extra employee come in the week before just to cut flower stems.

Lisa Heart stands among a pile of flower stems and scraps Feb. 14, 2024, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Phegley said one year she slipped on one of the stems, fell and dislocated her shoulder, but kept working until the work was done.

Judy Phegley trims a flower Feb. 11, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Phegley said she opened her flower shop because it seemed like a fun idea at the time. “Boy was I wrong,” Phegley said.

Lisa Heart cuts a ribbon to tie around the vase of a floral arrangement Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Heart said they started ordering more supplies like vases and ribbons in July to prepare for Valentine’s Day.

Bandaids, tums, hydrogen peroxide and ibuprofen are seen Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. “It’s time for ibuprofen,” Phegley said around 6:30 a.m.

Judy Phegley wraps floral arrangements in plastic Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Phegley and Heart said when it’s cold outside, it makes the day more stressful because they have to cover all the flowers to keep them from freezing.

Lane Sturgeon (middle) talks to Missy Pickett (left) and Judy Phegley looks on (right) Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Sturgeon said he started delivering flowers for Phegley over 10 years ago, and during his interview she made it clear they deliver flowers no matter the weather. “She said let me tell you something,” Sturgeon said. “‘We deliver flowers rain, sleet, snow or shine.’”

Justice Ulmet arranges flowers for delivery in the shop’s van Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Phegley said the shop received over 150 orders for delivery. The shop stopped taking orders for Valentine’s Day on Feb. 12, 2025.

Missy Pickett, who helps out at the shop as needed, answers a call while cutting a stem Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. The phone began to ring around 7:30 a.m., despite the store not opening until 8 a.m. “Valentine’s day is a notorious holiday for people waiting until the last minute,” Heart said. “I think it’s because it’s men.”

Missy Pickett (left) hugs Judy Phegley (right) Feb. 14, 2025, at Judy’s Flowers and Gifts in Bloomington. Phegley said holidays are hard for a florist. “Pretty much every holiday gets ruined for a florist just because you have to work so hard on the holidays,” Phegley said. She said the job is rewarding though when she sees people’s smiles.