Here, There and Everywhere

You can probably imagine what working in the flower business, with love’s biggest day just around the corner, is like. I don’t need to go into too much detail regarding how busy we are, and that men being men wait until the last minute to think to send their sweetie pies a lovely floral arrangement from Hana Tropicals. What you may not think about when you receive flowers however, are the bugs that were killed in order to make that arrangement possible. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to go off on some “Save the Ants!” campaign, I can’t stand the “Lil bastards,” (as we’ve been calling them in our best Boston accents,) anymore than the next person. Ants mostly, and earwigs, the occasional centipede, all just love to nestle themselves in the most colorful, sought after tropical flowers. When washing the flowers, you must take the most precise caution to check under every single little petal. If you spot one, it’s a thrust into the deathly soapy waters with the rest of them. Gingers, a beautiful red or pink flower, are perhaps one of the worst. With so many petals, it takes seems to take ages to get through a tub full.

Searching for the perfect flower or greenery isn’t a simple task either. With all the elements of nature keeping them from perfection, it’s difficult to find a flower or leaf without the tiniest of scratches or holes.  This morning, as we harvested for tomorrow’s shipped boxes, I went out on a hunt for 80 eureka’s.  These palm like greens grow quite large, and it’s the deep greens you really want to harvest. However, with 80 as close to perfect ones to find, I didn’t really pay too much attention to the richness of the color. Each eureka has many long, thin blade like leaves, and if one has a scratch, it’s a no go.

While going on my merry way seeking out perfect eureka’s, I couldn’t seem to get the sweet Beatles love song, “Here, There and Everywhere” out of my head; Valentines Day on my brain perhaps. And while washing all the flowers for hours on end this afternoon, fingers turning into little raisins, I could help but think that all those “Lil bastards” that were truly, here, there and everywhere.

Aloha!

And for you ladies (or boyfriend of a certain Hana Tropical employee,) out there lucky enough to receive flowers from your honey next Monday, be thankful for the bugs that gave their lives!