A rose by any other name would be a bit tough to get delivered for Valentine's Day this year.
Jackie Levine at Central Square Florist in Cambridge says there's no shortage of flowers.
"The farms have plenty of product.There's plenty of flowers around. There's not a lack of roses, lack of hydrangea, tulips."
But for roses, the farms are in South America and that means shipping.
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"So if your flowers didn't leave the farm in time, couldn't get on a flight in time, missed the truck then you're going to have a shortage of product."
She ordered early to avoid that but Jimmy Batista at Waltham Florist is seeing it happen.
"The trucks have been delayed so we were supposed to get a shipment in yesterday and now it's pushed to Friday," he said.
That means putting most of an arrangement in the fridge until the roses show up. He's also pivoted to other products.
"Crystal et Fleur. We did a colab with them. We dropped five colors. Those have been really well. And also the forever roses."
These are freeze-dried roses that last at least a year with no watering. None of that, though, solves the labor shortage at home.
Judy Campbell in Waltham says someone she knows, "tried to get flowers delivered over the weekend and had to pick Friday as the last day for delivery."
Batista said business is good, but very busy.
"I'm waiting for Tuesday. We have a countdown here. It's been a lot of early mornings. Late nights."
The message for those who haven’t shopped yet is - it’s not too late to buy but you may not be able to get it delivered when you want.
