Florists' business blossoms this week

Tomorrow morning, the Valentine's Day rush begins for David Winston, co-owner of Winston Flowers, which has seven stores in G reater Boston. He'll be working long hours, coordinating the logistics of hundreds of flower orders, preparing blossoms and foliage, and lining up deliveries.

It's not until the frantic preparations are over that Winston will finally bring home flowers to his wife, Jo-Ann. He favors a bouquet of roses and orchids, hand-delivering them to her as a surprise.

"She may get her flowers late, but I never forget," Winston said. "I never get tired of giving her flowers."

This Valentine's Day, Cupids will send 189 million roses, according to the Society of American Florists, with 65 percent of flower purchases made by men. Flower sales mount even more when Valentine's Day lands in the middle of the week, as it does this year, averaging $30,000 per shop. Because it's so busy, florists recommend ordering two or three days in advance -- yes, that means today or tomorrow.

Winston Flowers is just one of the many Boston-area florists gearing up for Valentine's Day. From its beginnings as a pushcart on Newbury Street, it's grown into a $25 million company that focuses on floral artistry, said the grandson of the founder.

Although you can still order a dozen long-stemmed roses in a box or traditionally presented in a pilsner vase, classic roses are getting a new spin in Winston's arrangements, from "Rouge Origami" (orchids, roses, and hydrangea) or "Rouge Bundles" (callas, roses, and orchids).

"Choosing flowers is like buying clothes or decorating the interior of your house," Winston said. "Some people dress classically, others more funky and fashionable. You want to match the person's personality and taste to the kind of flowers you give them."

For the formal traditionalist, long-stem roses (25 inches or longer) beg for a card with age-old phrasing, "My love is like a red, red rose . . .;" medium (20 inches long) and short-stemmed roses (15 inches long) are best when used with casual, contemporary arrangements and bunches.

Long-stem roses are more expensive, said Julie Mulligan, a Flowers.com floral designer, because they have fewer stems per plant and take a longer time to grow; packing and transportation costs are also higher.

As for colors, red symbolizes love, yellow means friendship, and pink shows admiration. But this year, monochromatic arrangements have been replaced by rich, sensual "pinks, plums, and lavenders"; roses share the spotlight with other cut flowers, particularly orchids. "Orchids are exotic, elegant, and long-lasting," Winston said.

He recommended the red Freedom rose, with big blossoms, slow opening buds; or the Hot Princess rose, a deep fuchsia. These hybrid roses have thorn less stems and greater longevity after being cut. But, they're not quite the super rose, as "the scent has been bred out of them," Winston said.

No matter what the variety or color, one dozen roses on Valentine's Day will set you back $100. That's 25 percent more than you would pay at other times of the year, which is simply a matter of supply and demand, said Amy Stewart, author of "Flower Confidential." Winston's most popular Valentine's Day offering is an arrangement of red fuchsia roses and violet spring flowers in a fluted trumpet vase for $200.

And when you give roses, presentation is everything.

Winston suggests having the restaurant maitre d' deliver the flowers during an elegant dinner, sending roses to the office, or presenting them on bended knee.

"It's been 16 years of marriage for me," Winston said with a laugh. "And I'm still getting on my knees."