Floriography, the act of communicating feelings through the use of flowers, became popular during the Victorian era in France and England. For modern Americans, one of the most frequent uses of the language of flowers is during the Valentine season.

Local Boone florists are preparing for a busy upcoming holiday week as they gather their gifts, arrangements and preorders to help the town with their expressions of love. 

King Street Flowers & Gifts, owned by Fuschia Moss, is one of the shops offering a preorder service and limited delivery.

Moss offers four different bouquets for preorder through Feb. 10 at 11:59 p.m. — Classic Dozen Roses, Lovely Lavender, Valentines Day Market Bouquet and Sweetheart Bright Blooms. 

For customers seeking an in-person shopping experience, there are additional arrangements available in-store, as well as Moss’ “choose your own stem bar,” where customers can create a personalized bouquet.

“It’s kind of meaningful for the person to be creating this for, you know, the recipient,” Moss said. 

If customers need advice when selecting flowers or ribbons for their bouquets, Moss said the staff is always willing to help. Beyond choosing what the customer is drawn toward and what they like, Moss said she thinks adding visual variety is important too. 

“I usually like to suggest people picking some sort of feathery flower,” Moss said. “We call them dancers, like a tulip or an anemone, that sort of gives some movement to the arrangement.”

Moss said the pricing for the choose your own stem bar is based on the type of flower you select per stem, and because of that, it’s much more accessible for those with lower budgets. 

“I just want people to be able to have flowers,” Moss said. “I have some regular customers that come every week, and they might just buy two or three flowers.” 

Moss said the benefits of having flowers in your home are why she found it so important to provide flowers for all budgets.

“Your eyes land on the shape and the color, and it allows your brain to sort of rest and create a sort of a pause in your day to enjoy the shape, or the scent or the color,” Moss said. 

In a 2021 study conducted by the National Institutes of Health, researchers found that “seeing flowers can provide physiological and psychological advantages such as stress reduction and improved well-being.”

Similarly, a series of studies conducted by Rutgers University’s Department of Psychology found “the simple presentation of flowers, even a single flower, will release a strong and immediate behavior reflecting positive affect.” 

 Another local business helping Boone residents achieve the benefits of floral gift giving on Valentine’s Day is Log House Florist, located at 249 Wilson Drive.

Owner Tiff

any Wilkinson said oftentimes people are shocked when they receive a gifted flower delivery out of nowhere.

“It’s just genuine love and compassion,” Wilkinson said. “I think it just makes people realize that they are cared for, and that others are thinking of them, that makes it so special.”

Wilkinson has owned Log House Florist for 10 years and she said during that time, she found it meaningful to have the ability to provide the community with flowers throughout challenging moments like the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Helene. 

“I think something like that makes you realize, you know, what you think is so little actually can be really big to somebody else,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson said because her grandparents opened the store in the ‘70s, and her mom owned it before her, she was able to learn a lot about the floral industry growing up as a third-generation florist. She also said with Valentine’s coming up, the shop would have “all hands on deck,” with help from her grandparents, mom and brother.

“It’s truly a family business,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson said Log House Florist bases their preorders on the patron’s choice of the provided color palettes such as “White & Green” or “Vibrant Pinks.” 

Over the years, Wilkinson said regular customers have gotten better about thinking ahead for their Valentine’s preordering because they usually hit capacity for deliveries.

“The majority of people do preorder, but we also have things in our store that will be ready the day of that people could just run in and pick up too,” Wilkinson said.

Some of the pickup items Wilkinson said would be in the store include add-on gifts like balloons and candles, standard paper-wrapped bouquets for customers who don’t need a full vase and full and half dozen roses.

Wilkinson said she encourages patrons who are shopping for significant others to lean toward the roses because of their romantic feel.

“Roses are a big thing for Valentine’s,” Wilkinson said. 

Steve Pace, owner of Bouquet Florist at 186 Boone Heights Drive, said he ordered about 600 red roses in anticipation of their popularity during the holiday, along with a variety of other flowers. The roses will be featured in some of the shop’s vase arrangements, preorders and walk-in Valentine’s specialty gifts. 

The different variations of gift boxes feature things like teddy bears, chocolates and a vase to pair with the matching flowers, and they come in a range of price points. 

Pace said he has worked for Bouquet Florist for 20 years, and that he’s owned it for nine. 

“Things haven’t been the same since COVID, and they’ve not been the same since the hurricane,” Pace said.

When Hurricane Helene hit, Pace said the shop flooded with 24 inches of water, resulting in floor damage and the loss of a cooler. With local wedding cancellations, he said they lost the income of almost 20 weddings, as October is one of the most popular wedding months in the High Country. 

“I felt like my dream floated down the river,” said Pace. “I just felt like I lost it all.”

Pace said despite that feeling, with help from the community, the business was able to continue to pay its employees. He mentioned Chick-fil-A, a long-time customer of theirs, was one of the helping hands during that time. 

“We take care of them, and they take care of us,” he said. 

Pace said every Monday, Bouquet Florist provides the fresh table flowers for the restaurant’s dining room, and they have for several years. He said they base the type of flowers on the season, and when App State has a football game, they provide flowers that are black and gold for the tables. 

“I’m just grateful, and I’m excited that we have another Valentine’s Day,” Pace said.