Entrepreneurs Te Aroha Palmer and her cousin Meeshla Nathan have created a blooming business for Valentine's Day by creating bouquets of flax flowers and beautiful single blooms.
The dyed flowers, held together in colourful wraps, have proved a hit with admirers wanting to impress special people in their lives.
A mother had
bought a bunch for her son to give to his partner while others wanted the flowers for table settings at a wedding.
Mrs Palmer, from Whangarei, said there was a motive behind making the unusual bunches: to raise money for a netball trip to America at the end of the year for 27 Whangarei netballers.
The cousins had been finding flax from friends' homes and, with permission, from the rodeo grounds at Maungatapere.
While there was hot demand for the flax flowers there was also demand for the real kind with florists across Northland frantic yesterday to complete all their Valentine's Day orders today.
At Kamo Village, florist staff were up late last night putting the finishing touches on their orders. Sarah Quinn said red roses were hugely popular but they had also prepared plenty of mixed bouquets.
In Whangarei, Dorothy Annes Florist owner Cheryl Ferrett said single red roses were proving popular but expected to sell bunches of 12 today as people made "grand gestures".
Gloria Seymour of Gloria's Flowers and Gifts, in Dargaville, said decorated sunflowers and flax kete were popular as well as a dozen roses.
Fresh roses bought yesterday in Auckland were delivered to Cherry Blossom Florist in Kerikeri with Cherry Beaver preparing to be up at the crack of dawn today to make sure the bouquets were fresh.
"Romance is blooming up this way with plenty of roses being ordered," she said.
