Our Patch FEBRUARY 2016
Our Patch FEBRUARY 2016
W
hy do we go gooey
over a dozen roses
on Valentine’s Day
and feel we have to
write poetry to the
one we love?
Blame a Third Century Roman who
was imprisoned for his religious beliefs
and supposedly performed a miracle
to restore the lost sight of the jailer’s
daughter.
In a poignant last letter from his
cell on death row, the prisoner wrote
to the girl, signing off: ‘From your
Valentine’. The first Valentine card.
He was executed on the orders
of emperor Claudius ll on February 14,
269. The story was embroidered and
adapted, and by the Middle Ages the
famous day in February was being used
to celebrate Valentine’s life.
The saint was often depicted with
a floral wreath on his head, which
may be why flowers are such popular
Valentine’s Day gifts.
The variety of the many beautiful
blooms is one of the main things
which florists Lynfa Jenkin and Alicia
Tennant say they love about their
job – and they encourage residents to
embrace that spirit too when it comes
to Valentine’s Day.
“Flowers are just beautiful to be
around,” said Lynfa, who runs Little
Lake Flowers behind The Black Lion
pub in Hammersmith, by the Thames.
“They’re consistently surprising. I’m
not a massive red rose fan. Valentine’s
Day is on the same day all over the
world and demand goes up. This means
the price goes up about five times for
us, customers have to spend about £50
for a bunch of roses and never go back
to a florist again. It’s got ridiculous.
“I’d rather have something different,
where more thought has been put into
it. Our alternative bouquet is made up
'I'm not a massive red rose
fan; I'd rather have something
different, where more thought
has been put into it'
of beautiful dusty pink roses in foliage.
The 45-year-old of Verbena Gardens,
Hammersmith, has been running her
flower shop for about 14 months and
is aided by experienced florist Alicia
Tennant plus three part-time staff.
Alicia, 28, of Battersea, admitted
working out of a shed at the back of a
8/9
While the custom of giving things to
one’s beloved originated in the UK, it
was enthusiastically developed by the
commercial gift industry in the USA.
Officially St Valentine is the saint
of love and engaged couples… but
he is also, insists the Vatican, the
registered saint of travellers, young
people, fainting, beekeeping and,
oddly, epilepsy.
Mind you, there are – in total – a
dozen saints called Valentine in
the Roman Catholic church, so the
various causes could be shared out a bit.
EXPERT OPINION
LYNFA'S TOP TIPS TO
KEEP FLOWERS FRESH
WELL-VERSED IN LOVE
Rushes senior florist
Toni Rogers puts a
hand-tied together;
Little Lake Flowers,
above right
PHOTOS:
JUSTIN THOMAS &
MATT GRAYSON
BY NUMBERS
VALENTINE'S DAY
Roses sold worldwide: 198 million
Percentage bought by men: 78
Cards sent worldwide: 180 million
Percentage bought by women: 85
Percentage of Valentine's cards sent
by pupils to their teachers: 20
Most popular Valentine's gift: Chocs
Average UK Valentine spend: £53.38
UK romantic dinner spending: £557m
pub is unusual but it suits their style.
“We enjoy being different,” she said.
A RUSH OF BLOOD
Certainly Rushes, in King Street,
Hammersmith, works flat out to meet
demand in the days leading up to
February 14.
The florist shop – a member
of Interflora and a multiple award
winner – is owned by Andrea Pereira
and Morgan Douglas Nuth and boasts
it stocks 150 different types of flower
variety.
Valentine’s floral creations in
the shop start at £25… although
you’ll have to pay £1,000 for the
‘Roman Abramovich’ of gifts, 200 hand-
tied roses in a huge arrangement. “I
don’t know any florist who goes home
on Valentine’s Day looking forward
to anything romantic; you’re too
tired,” said Andrea, who has worked
at the shop for 19 of its 25 years in
Hammersmith.
“You get bombarded and you have
to take a guess on everything you need
– you never know how many orders
you’re going to get. Once I had to
throw 400 flowers away.
“Men usually seem to be a
bit disorganised. Mother’s Day is
much more organised because the
orders are mostly generated by women.
Valentine’s Day is 90 per cent men,” she
added with a laugh.
“Affairs of the heart can lead to some
passionate, and rather odd requests,
as well as some very demanding
customers. You have to write some
long, poetic card messages; some can be
quite sexy, some can be quite rude!
“I had a guy phone me to place an
order – I must’ve spoken to him about
a dozen times as he wanted me to help
him write a song.
“He was trying to win her back.
I helped him write the verses and
afterwards the staff turn