Historically, Valentine’s Day has us all seeing red. Red roses and red vases, with a little pink and white thrown in for good measure, are always safe bets and most certainly cater to the traditional Valentine’s Day shopper.

The Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition trade event showcasing the latest trends in foliage, floral and tropicals is slated for Jan. 21-23 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. With more than 500 exhibiting companies in nearly 800 booth spaces, TPIE’s 200,000-square-foot exhibit area will offer wholesale buyers a wide array of resources for foliage and tropical plants, according to a news release.

For Valentine’s Day 2015, the buzz is already about U.S.-grown flowers. Consumers are excited to learn where their food and flowers come from; they want to know the farmer who grew their veggies, the vintner who made their wine and the flower farmer who grew the romantic blooms that will be the centerpiece of their Valentine’s Day ritual.

The biennial Agriflor show took place in the CEMEXPO Convention Center in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 1-4. The show was well attended by buyers from all over the world as well as exhibitors representing growers and related suppliers from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and beyond.

The overall mood that I sensed at this show was a mixture of optimism, due to recent good production and solid market returns by most farms, coupled with a sense of caution and uncertainty based upon multiple domestic and global developments.

Expoflores held its 15th biennial international flower trade show, Agriflor 2014, Oct. 1-4 in Quito, Ecuador. The fair was held in the CEMEXPO Exhibition Center and was filled with beautiful flowers from the first booth to the last one. A sea of roses could be seen if you looked down any of the aisles.

On Oct. 1 there was an official opening ceremony, which included remarks from several dignitaries, and then the doors of the hall were opened and the fair began. There were over 200 exhibiting companies and more than 3,000 visitors representing some 37 countries.

Balloons have the power to put a smile on anyone’s face. They are also a profit powerhouse for retailers — a billion-dollar industry worldwide. By adding balloons to existing floral offerings, supermarkets can capitalize on this service-driven category and maximize each sale.

Balloons have a high profit margin and high impact, making them a perfect add-on item to increase the value of floral arrangements. They are even more profitable when sold as a coordinated bouquet that has a higher perceived value, which affects the price that someone is willing to pay.