30/10/2024
Pansy pricing despair: okay, I’m usually pretty confident with my pricing but every time in invoice for pansies, I spiral 😂 So dramatic for tiny flowers, I know, but the struggle is real!
So, my florists will know I’ve been charging $1.50 wholesale per 30cm+ stem. And truthfully I haven’t had any complaints but the back and forth I have with myself every time is: “but they’re not as tall as other flowers and they barely fill any space so they aren’t a practical purchase for florists who are trying to keep their prices reasonable for their customers.” But then when I hobble inside after spending an hour and a half harvesting 100 stems of pansies and beg Sam for a massage, I am reminded of why I charge what I do 😂
Firstly, pansies are very low to the ground so you’re bending even further than normal to harvest.
Secondly, because the plants are somewhat trailing (some varieties are more upright than others and for those I am very grateful!), you can’t actually tell how long a stem is by looking at it; you have to follow the stem all the way back to the base of the plant to feel whether the stem is long enough to justify cutting it yet. So you’re often bending over to touch a lot of stems you don’t even end up picking.
They are also a lot more delicate than other flowers so you have to be super careful when stripping the stems. It’s not one smooth motion like most cut flowers, you have to individually pluck the leaves off being careful not to snap the stem.
And finally there is the ongoing dead-heading to keep encouraging growth and lengthening. No wonder my back is sore 😂
So I hope everyone sees them as a beautiful little luxury and can understand their value because overall, pansies are really not the most efficient or practical flower for both the farmer or the florist, but they are my favourite and they make me and so many other people very happy. Plus they have a pretty outstanding vase life and they add something super special to a florists design so don’t worry, I’m not going to stop growing them!
