“We are making progress everyday but there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Jana Register, director of sales and marketing at FernTrust in Seville, Florida, a co-op of thirteen family farms and one of the largest growers and shippers in the area.

Wind damage from Hurricane Matthew in October was severe across Central Florida, with some estimates placing total crop loss at more than 50 percent and some growers seeing 100 percent losses.

“There are still hundreds of acres of leatherleaf without saran [shade structures], and the acres that are repaired will not be in full production for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day,” Register explained. She estimated that this year, FernTrust would fill about 80 percent of the leatherleaf volume it filled in 2017.

Erik Hagstrom of Albin Hagstrom and Son Inc. in Pierson, Florida, said his company has implemented temporary fixes to cover its ferneries but noted permanent repairs could take up to a year — owing in large part to a local labour shortage and competition for workers from other industries, including housing and construction.

“In regards to supply, Hagstrom will be OK through Valentine’s Day on leatherleaf,” he said. “We will, however, be having to really beat the bushes to make it to April, when our spring crop hopefully arrives. I think most companies are in this same situation. March will be really tight on supply,” with a great deal of repair working taking place over the summer.

In addition, Register said “warm winter days” have led to “spring-like new growth” that could lead to shortages for Valentine’s Day on another popular foliage: variegated and green pittosporum. Growers often face new-growth issues for Mother’s Day supplies, she noted, but it’s rare to face the challenge at such a ‘magnitude’ for Valentine’s Day, she said.

Albin Hagstrom and Son Inc. in Pierson, Florida, went from 500 acres of leatherleaf production to 280 in an hour last autumn after Hurricane Matthew tore through Central Florida. “We still have production in those acres, but the saran tops were destroyed, thus reducing supply and hampering those acres of production,” he explained.

Steve Catando, the purchasing manager at Delaware Valley Floral Group, based in Sewell, New Jersey, said he’s planning for a 50-percent reduction in leatherleaf and pittosporum for many importers and distributors on Valentine’s Day. He noted that some of that shortfall could be minimized by turning to other sources (growers in Costa Rico and Honduras for leatherleaf, for example) and by working with longtime suppliers, with whom the company has “strong and unique relationships.”

Retail florists E-Brief editors contacted this week said they were unaware of the potential dip in supply, a fact that doesn’t surprise Hagstrom. “I don’t really think most people understand the scope and severity of our damage,” he said, noting that, with Hurricane Matthew, the company went from 500 acres of [leatherleaf] production to 280 in an hour. The company still has production in those acres, but the saran tops were destroyed, reducing supply. “It’s just really hard to describe.”

Industry support, he added, is crucial. “We need every sale we can get. Just because we say our damage is great and supply is tight, that scares people sometimes. We need for those orders to come in and help rebuild our industry.”

For florists who find themselves shorthanded this holiday, the good news, said Sharon McGukin, AIFD, AAF, PFCI, is that there are plenty of beautiful substitution options. “Consider varieties like ruscus, salal, sword fern, tree fern, spiral or seeded eucalyptus, myrtle and boxwood to name a few,” said McGukin, a member of the Smithers-Oasis Design Directors and past president of the American Institute of Floral Designers. “You may have to adjust to using fewer stems if the alternate greenery is more costly, but a change might be interesting to your customers if it creates a new look for you,” she added.

“Experiment with a variety of new products to add flair to your traditional design menu. When the leatherleaf and pitt crops rebound, you can add them back to your now expanded product mix.”

Source: Mary Westbrook, Society of American Florists