美国国家公共电台 NPR--Florists have been gearing up for their Super Bowl: Valentine's Day

Florists² have been gearing up for their Super Bowl: Valentine's Day

Transcript³

The rose business on Valentine's Day is a mad rush of flowers grown and shipped from around the world. An intricate supply chain must come together to cap off a single day.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

On this Valentine's Day, Americans will spend about $26 billion this year on dinner, chocolates, wine and, of course, roses. Rose prices have nearly doubled since the start of the pandemic. NPR's Stacey Vanek Smith reports.

STACEY VANEK SMITH, BYLINE⁴: It is Valentine's Day. Love is in the air, unless you are a florist¹.

ROB PALLISER: The three days before Valentine's Day, I'm having - I don't know if you want to call them night terrors, but you're dreaming roses, right?

VANEK SMITH: This is Rob Palliser. He owns Scotts Flowers with his two brothers, and the nightmares are kind of understandable. Twenty thousand roses will funnel⁵ through this little Manhattan shop for Valentine's Day. His brother Chris says they've been gearing up for weeks.

CHRIS PALLISER: Valentine's Day - it's the Super Bowl. It's the biggest holiday of the year for us.

VANEK SMITH: And there is no room to fumble⁶. That's the thing about Valentine's Day. People want their 12 red roses delivered to their Valentine today. And you can't even really prepare that much ahead of time because most people place their orders at the very last minute.

C PALLISER: The last two days...

R PALLISER: Insane. At the end of the day, procrastinators still win. That's when everything comes in.

VANEK SMITH: The printer - are those, like, orders coming out of the printer?

R PALLISER: As we speak. Those are Valentine's orders, as we speak, coming in.

VANEK SMITH: More than a thousand orders have passed through this little printer at Scotts Flowers this Valentine's - one every 2 to 3 minutes. Chris Palliser pulls a stack off the printer.

C PALLISER: Two o'clock, 2:04, 2:06, 2:08, 2:08, 2:12.

VANEK SMITH: Most of these orders are for - you guessed it - a dozen red roses.

R PALLISER: A dozen roses in a vase is going to be $135.

VANEK SMITH: OK. That seems like a lot.

C PALLISER: Well, yes, it is. It is a lot.

VANEK SMITH: It's more than ten bucks⁷ a rose. But Chris Palliser says it's actually barely enough to cover costs. Even though this is the busiest day of the year for Scotts Flowers and the whole global flower industry, it is not all that profitable this year. The reason - blame the roses. Most of them were grown near the equator. They have traveled thousands of miles to be here. The rising cost of airfare, fuel, labor⁸ and shipping⁹ have pushed the price of roses way up.

C PALLISER: You want to see the fridge?

VANEK SMITH: Yes.

C PALLISER: These are our roses that we're going to be using.

VANEK SMITH: That's, like, thousands of flowers right there.

C PALLISER: Correct.

VANEK SMITH: Right now, roses are running between about 1 and $3 per stem, wholesale¹⁰. That is about 50% more than last year. At the same time, customers have gotten very price-sensitive. So Chris and Rob say they just cannot adjust rose prices to keep up with costs. So to try to make the Valentine's math a little rosier¹¹ this year, Chris and Rob Palliser are offering a bunch of Valentine's bouquets¹³ that feature other flowers.

MEGAN VEJBY: For tulips, you keep the bottoms clean. It'll help to maintain the longevity¹⁴ of the arrangement.

VANEK SMITH: Megan Vejby is assembling the Boho Blush bouquet¹², which features tulips, orchids¹⁵, mums, hyacinths and a few roses. She stands at a long stainless¹⁶ steel table alongside her fellow florists - silent, focused, trimming stems and leaves with this little paring knife, which is what the pros¹⁷ use instead of scissors.

VEJBY: It doesn't come without its little nicks along the way, but it really helps with speed.

VANEK SMITH: In just seven minutes of trimming and arranging, the Boho Blush is ready. It's very ethereal - white, pink. The price - $185. Scotts Flowers offers several bouquets like these, full of high-end flowers, just not the one flower everyone is trying to get on February 14. And they've been selling very well.

R PALLISER: I mean, listen, at the end of the day, roses are always king and people are going to want red roses.

VANEK SMITH: It's like the panic buy.

R PALLISER: Correct.

VANEK SMITH: All the while, the printer churns out orders for red roses, red roses, red roses.

Stacey Vanek Smith, NPR News.

1 florist   

n.花商；种花者

参考例句：

• The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
• Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？

2 florists   

n.花商，花农，花卉研究者( florist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The little dressmaker bought an envelope of nasturtium seeds at the florists. 那个个子矮小的女裁缝在花铺里买了一包金莲花种子。 来自辞典例句
• I have more important things to do than petulant florists. 我有比教训坏脾气的花匠更重要的事情要做。 来自互联网

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

6 fumble   

vi.笨拙地用手摸、弄、接等，摸索

参考例句：

• His awkwardness made him fumble with the key.由于尴尬不安，他拿钥匙开锁时显得笨手笨脚。
• He fumbled his one-handed attempt to light his cigarette.他笨拙地想用一只手点燃香烟。

7 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

11 rosier   

Rosieresite

参考例句：

• Rosier for an instant forgot the delicacy of his position. 罗齐尔一时间忘记了他的微妙处境。
• A meeting had immediately taken place between the Countess and Mr. Rosier. 伯爵夫人和罗齐尔先生已经搭讪上了。

12 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

13 bouquets   

n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香

参考例句：

• The welcoming crowd waved their bouquets. 欢迎的群众摇动着花束。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• As the hero stepped off the platform, he was surrounded by several children with bouquets. 当英雄走下讲台时，已被几名手持花束的儿童围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

15 orchids   

n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She breeds orchids in her greenhouse. 她在温室里培育兰花。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

17 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》