![LOVE IS IN THE AIR: Designer Bunches co-owner Eliza Fagan prepares roses for Valentine's Day. Photo: Gareth Gardner LOVE IS IN THE AIR: Designer Bunches co-owner Eliza Fagan prepares roses for Valentine's Day. Photo: Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/hAWJC77isbRCSsmqzS5A6F/1e29fd14-f819-41fa-b63d-6623b10cc04f.jpg/r0_100_3000_2187_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
FLORIST-buyer confidentiality is alive and well as shopkeepers remain tight-lipped about the gushy Valentine’s Day cards that have already been ordered.
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In the dead of night, Aunty Jax florist Mick Sweeney and his band of merry bunchers sit, blaring music, as they de-thorn and wire each red rose.
“We have all sorts, people who know what they want to write, people who ask us for ideas – some people have no idea,” he laughed.
“It all depends, some people are already married, some are courting.
“But if there’s a corny card line we’ve heard most of them.”
At Aunty Jax, extra couriers and staff have been put on to deal with nearly 2500 roses from Australia, South America and Africa.
It’s expected they will sell 15 times as many orders as a usual week.
The traditional long-stemmed rose synonymous with Valentine’s Day should be 70 centimetres or more.
The wire in the stem of the rose not only keeps the head turgent, but contains iron that helps the rose last longer.
At Designer Bunches, mother-and-daughter team Eliza and Jan Fagan have ordered hundreds of extra roses straight from the flower markets in Sydney.
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But, there’s a few lovers that have decided to stray from the traditional route.
“We do a lot of the traditional red roses and coloured roses, but we have a lot of people wanting mixed colours like lillies or natives,” Eliza Fagan said.
“There’s always a few funny cards with inside jokes and nicknames, sometimes they do it on purpose to embarrass their partner at work.
“Mostly they keep it simple with a happy Valentine’s Day – there’s a few that get creative.”
Valentine’s Day is on Thursday, February 14.