Whether it’s a birthday, an anniversary, a holiday or a random day of the week, flowers have been used worldwide as a way to communicate one’s love and appreciation.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Tucson locals and University of Arizona students are lucky to have access to a variety of flower shops to find the perfect gift for themselves or a loved one.
Businesses such as the Flower Shop on 4th Avenue, Eric’s Flower Market and Bloom Maven are all within a close proximity to the UA.
The owner of the Flower Shop on 4th, Pati Velasquez, has been in the floral business for 28 years and continues to find an appreciation for the gift of giving. Anything from a singular rose to a beautifully crafted floral arrangement.
“I love the reactions that people get when they receive flowers,” Velasquez said.
An experience that stuck with Velasquez was many years ago in the first floral shop she worked at. A normal day of work consisted of her preparing orders to be sent out, but on an off-day, she went on a drive along with the deliveries.
“One lady received some roses and she was so happy. That was the first time that I actually saw a reaction from somebody getting flowers. Seeing how happy this makes people is why I love it,” Velasquez said.
Velasquez’s own passion for flowers stems back to when she was only 4 years old. Her next door neighbors growing up had rose bushes flourishing in their yard. Velasquez’s eyes were drawn to the beauty of these roses and the urge to pick them was irresistible.
“I would always pick the roses and make things with them in little plastic tea cups and decorate the playhouse with flowers, and the neighbor had to ask my mother to tell me to stop picking their flowers,” Velasquez said.
BloomNation, an online floral marketplace, named Velasquez and her business best florist since 2017 and featured them as one of the eight best flower delivery options in Arizona in 2020 and 2021.
The Flower Shop on 4th Avenue not only creates artistic designs that help express one’s emotions, but they also provide discounts for UA students which is useful for the upcoming holiday.
AnnMarie Mascetti, a senior majoring in business management at the UA, has visited the Flower Shop on 4th Avenue and has found a love and appreciation for giving or receiving flowers.
“I like to give my mom or friends flowers because they deserve to have something beautiful in their house that reminds them of their accomplishments every time they look at it,” Mascetti said.
Mascetti also receives flowers from her boyfriend often and said this has strengthened their relationship.
“When he buys me flowers, I feel beautiful. I think the flowers are so beautiful, and he says he picks the ones that remind him of me. When he gives me flowers, I feel closer to him emotionally,” Mascetti said.
Due to the short life-span of flowers, this gives them more value than materialistic items that last forever, according to Mascetti.
“It’s almost because flowers die that it makes them more special. They are lively plants that have extreme unique beauty,” Mascetti said.
Alyssa Arnold, a student in the College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture at the UA, also supports many local Tucson flower shops, such as Bloom Maven and Green Things plant nursery.
“I like receiving planted flowers because you can keep watering them and have them for a long time and that adds more value to it,” Arnold said.
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Arnold also gifts her friends floral arrangements for their birthdays, if they finished a hard exam or if they had a stressful week. She said she sees flowers as a way to celebrate someone and lift their spirits.
Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to communicate your feelings toward a loved one with the gift of an extravagant bouquet and the various local flower businesses in Tucson make this sentimental act that much easier.
Flowers never seem to go out of style and have continued to be a way to exchange emotions without having to say anything at all.
As every flower symbolizes a different meaning, make sure to speak with your local florist to assure you are personalizing your gift.
For more information, please visit your local Tucson businesses such as the Flower Shop on 4th Avenue, Eric’s Flower Market, Bloom Maven and more.
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