It’s a time of celebration on Friday 14 February – not only is it Valentine’s Day but it’s also the 50^th year that New Covent Garden Flower Market will be celebrating the annual day of love since moving from London’s West End to its ‘new’ Nine Elms site back in November 1974.

Several of the family businesses at the Market are celebrating 50 years of continuous, successful trading in one form or another and although half a century is a long time, some traditions are perfectly matched – namely red roses signifying romance alongside a continued love for the Flower Market and the expertise of its knowledgeable traders.

Lara Richens of Green & Bloom, with a Valentine's Day selection

“Whites and pink roses will be popular choices but for many of our customers traditional is best,” says Mike Burgess, a Salesman at DG Wholesale, who expects bumper trade on Friday 14 February. “Valentine’s Day falling on a Friday this year couldn’t be better for us and I’m sure our traditional red roses will be our best seller on the day,” says Mike - despite all the vivid colour choices on offer. “Our Ecuadorian roses will be our best seller, as they produce a very good quality rose.” Due to the warm climate, rich soil and high altitude of the Andes Mountains, Ecuador has ideal growing conditions to produce roses with a vivid deep colour that feature long stems, large blooms and velvety petals.

Dave Gibbs of DG Wholesale Flowers Ltd with a selection of roses for Valentine's Day

“The trend for roses is always strong and, as you’d expect, red roses are still very popular with the Explorer, an Ecuadorian variety one of our best sellers,” says Sam Hardcastle, co-owner of Bloomfield Wholesale Florist Ltd. “But if you want to move away from that and change it up, we’re offering lots of colour choices. We’re now seeing demand for pink, peach and even white roses, all colours that we know will prove popular in the run up to 14 February.”

Are you after something different this year? Sam recommends mixing it up. “At Bloomfield we’re seeing increased demand for mixed bouquets – which is a real change to the traditional bunch of 12 red roses,” adds Sam. “If you’re clever, you can mix up your bouquet and get amazing value for money.”

After a traditionally slow start in January, Sam echoes the feeling across the Market that Valentine’s Day will kick start this year’s trade. “Valentine’s Day falling on a Friday is brilliant for us as people will be going out after work - it’s the best possible day of the week for us in terms of trade,” says Sam. “We’re expecting to be busy all week.”

Alongside the ever-popular rose, ranunculus is a popular Valentine’s Day choice with florists. “We’ve seen big demand for the Hanoi variety of ranunculus," says Green & Bloom’s Luke Gilbert. “They’re very popular with florists as they open up really well and have amazing, large heads. In terms of roses, all colours rather than just red are popular, with caramel hews, beige, pinks and whites all selling well.”

Luke Gilbert of Green & Bloom with a selection of Ranunculus for Valentine's Day

So how have things changed for wholesalers and florists over the past 50 years?

“Back in the 1970s people only wanted red roses for Valentine’s Day, whereas now the colours have changed, and some florists will use a mixed bouquet with only a couple of red roses,” says Dave Gibbs, owner of DG Wholesale. “50 years ago, most of our flowers at this time of year would come from either Guernsey in the Channel Islands or from Israel. There was an orange-coloured rose called a Mercedes, alongside the Gabriella and Jaguar varieties that were all grown in Israel - they’re still grown there now but they come via the Dutch markets. Another popular choice back in the 1970s was a single rose in a cube, but the supermarkets have taken over that trade now.”

It's clear that Valentine’s Day has become much more commercial over the last couple of decades, with demand outpacing traditional holiday events such as Christmas and Easter. “Now it’s one of the biggest days of the year, but back in the 1970s Valentine’s Day would have come in a poor fourth place,” says Peter Green, owner of Smith and Green Wholesale Florists Ltd. “Back then Christmas, Mothers’ Day and Easter were all bigger events in terms of selling flowers, and Valentine’s Day wasn’t big at all. Over the past 30 years, from the mid 1990s onwards, I’ve seen it become much more commercialised and a much bigger event for the floral industry.  In real terms, roses would have actually cost more back in the 1970s and they weren’t as good quality as they are now!”

One thing that hasn’t changed over the past 50 years and shows no sign of changing anytime soon is the colour of love. “Anything red has always been the colour of choice,” says Peter, “and a dozen red roses is still the big thing.”