Photo by Sarah Gilbert / The Collegian

Fresno State Floral’s roses and carnations are ‘must-haves’ this Valentine’s Day

“It’s going to be a Valentine’s epidemic,â€Â said Kyle Hailey, a senior liberal studies major, as he arranged a vase of delphiniums in the Ornamental Horticulture Floral Unit lab.

Hailey and other students have been working nonstop in the weeks leading up to Valentine̢۪s Day, arranging a variety of bud vases and mixed bouquets for this Saturday.

“Red roses are the most popular choice when it comes to Valentine’s Day,â€Â manager Elisa Valdez said as she twisted carnations into corsages for a father-daughter dinner and dance. “Red carnations are a close second, though.â€Â

A normal year sees an average of 50 deliveries on Feb. 14, but so far Valdez has counted about 20. “This year it seems to be about keeping costs down, keeping things inexpensive,â€Â Valdez said.

The department buys the blooms from local California growers, Valdez said, as demand is too high to grow them all on campus. “We try not to import, though if someone requests it, we do have that ability.â€Â

Photo by Sarah Gilbert / The Collegian

Hailey has been working in the lab for almost a year, and he prefers it to working at Starbucks. “Going home smelling like roses is always good,â€Â he said. “It beats dead shots any day.â€Â

Valdez started out as a volunteer during her years as an undergraduate, but she quickly moved up the ranks. “I’m going on my third year here as a manager,â€Â she said, “but it’s my first year teaching.â€Â

Business unusual

Valdez has been teaching floral design for the agriculture department since graduating from Fresno State last year with a bachelor̢۪s degree in business, and she has seen all kinds of orders come into the lab.

“There’s this one guy who orders five to six boxes of petals every year,â€Â Valdez said, “but he’ll never tell us what he does with them.â€Â

Hailey has a theory about that. “I personally think that maybe he cooks them up,â€Â he said, “like puts them in a soup or something. You can eat petals, you know.â€Â

He also has a theory about Valentine̢۪s Day.

“I think it’s a day where everybody is really showy about their love,â€Â Hailey said. “And if you need a day to be all lovely and everything, that’s not really a good relationship.â€Â

And the Ornamental Horticulture lab isn̢۪t just a Valentine̢۪s affair, it̢۪s an everyday business as well.

“We tend to do about four to five deliveries a week and three or four separate events, usually weddings and parties,â€Â Valdez said. “We also do our fair share of daddy-daughter dances this time of year.â€Â

The lab is a maze of vases and brightly colored lilies and carnations, a heady aroma filling the air. It̢۪s enough to put a lot of people in a romantic mood, but not Hailey.

“Valentine’s Day is pretty overrated with all the love hype,â€Â Hailey said, “but that’s how it should be every day, isn’t it?â€Â