The AIFD Foundation, working with the Texas State Florists’ Association and the Florida State Florists’ Association, has set up two relief funds, one for Hurricane Harvey and one for Hurricane Irma. Get more information or donate.
Floral industry members in Florida are still working to recover from damages sustained during Hurricane Irma — an effort made considerably more challenging by sustained loss of power around the state.
“We didn’t have any catastrophic damage, but the loss of business from pre-evacuation hype to evacuation to after-devastation has been unbearable,” said Brooke Raulerson, AIFD, FSMD, CWP, of Artistic Florist and Events on Amelia Island, Florida, late last week.
Like many florists, in both Florida and Texas, Raulerson has been struggling to file claims for some of her losses. “We tried to claim ‘loss of business’ on our insurance, claimed our electricity had to be out for 72 consecutive hours,” she explained, adding that kind of technicality doesn’t take into account the reality of the lead-up for a storm such as Irma. “By the time we are under mandatory evacuation, the electricity still will run for two to three days before the storm actually hits.”
Other updates from around the state and the industry:
Business Resumes in Miami
Christine Boldt, executive vice president of the Association of Floral Importers of Florida, said she is seeing continued progress in Miami; she noted that much — but far from all — of the city has power again.
Product from South America “has been increasing every day,” she said. “Before the storm, many of the airlines left their planes outside of South Florida and, because the airports and seaports were closed for a few days, there was less cargo in Miami to go southbound. So, we are suffering through the startup of getting the planes moving again with cargo.”
The slowdown in the supply chain is one many florists are facing — and it’s a story that the media has picked up on.
But Boldt says she sees progress. “Truck lines hauling out of Miami started up last week but not all started full force on the first day,” she explained. “The importers are here, open and able to service the wholesalers and retailers with whatever is available.”
Some Growers Hit Hard
The aftermath of Irma, in Collier County, Florida. “It’s way too early to tally the losses, yet we know most of the state’s nursery and greenhouse crop growers are impacted,” said CEO of the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association Ben Bolusky. “Almost all have lost some and some have lost all.”
Jennifer Nelis, director of communications and public relations for the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association, said that many growers across the state are “back filling orders and shipping plants.”
That’s not the case for everyone.
“Unfortunately, there are a few who are severely impacted — and a handful who seem to have suffered 90 to 95 percent destruction,” she said. “We are doing our best to assist these few with their most basic needs. Yet, overall, our folks are showing their resiliency and are working to rebuild what was lost.”
Jana Register of FernTrust in Seville, Florida, said the coop of 13 family farms has “made good progress on patching the saran structures to try and allow cutters to salvage some of the leatherleaf underneath.”
“Tree removal has begun in the hammock ferneries,” she added. “We have had a dry week so the wetter fields are beginning to dry out which will hopefully prevent damage to the root structures of the plants.”
The work to repair and clean up has led to additional work, too. “We see new damage each day that is just know appearing,” Register explained. “We are seeing damage to our Florida Christmas greens that we did not see after Matthew . We feel this damage like the other issues were the result of the hours upon hours of 45 plus miles per hour.”
A greenhouse destroyed in the Naples/Ft. Myers area of Florida. According to FNGLA, Florida’s nursery and landscape industry generates $21 billion in total output sales and provides jobs for more than 232,000 people.
FernTrust, however, is still on track to host an American Grown Field to Vase dinner on November 18.
Fundraising Continues
The AIFD Foundation, working with the Texas State Florists’ Association and the Florida State Florists’ Association, has set up two relief funds, one for Hurricane Harvey and one for Hurricane Irma. Get more information or donate.
FNGLA also has established a resource page for people who want to provide support. Nelis said the group is looking for help of all kinds, “such as suppliers who would offer a discount or possibly send items at no cost to existing customers or whatever the case may be. Poly and other structural items are in hot demand.”