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Inside the quaint settings of Tiger Lily Floral Design, a mixed aroma of Casablanca lilies, hyacinths and roses fills the air.

Lining the walls are various vases, racks of ribbons and a shelf full of scents, from incense to candles.

Rummaging through the refrigerator is Tanya Cole, who is searching for the perfect flower to complement a fresh bouquet she is making.

"Don't let all of this empty space fool you," said Cole, 35, referring to what she considers minimum inventory in her shop. "Come Valentine's Day, this place is going to be filled wall to wall with flowers and a line of people out the door."

Meeting the demands of the floral industry's busiest day is one challenge of being a retail florist, especially a small one like Cole, but business for florists is more than just one day. Estimates range from 190 to 230 retail florists working in New Mexico according to industry analysts and wholesale floral dealers. In Albuquerque, there are more than 50 retail florists, not including mass market retailers like Costco and Trader Joe's.

Blooming business

As one of the smaller retailers, Tiger Lily Floral Design only has three employees, including Cole. But with 20 years of experience in the floral industry, she knows how to keep her business from wilting.

It's all about customer service and compromise, she said.

"I swore I would never do balloons, no stuffed animals and never carnations," she said glancing up at a shelf packed with Beanie Babies and toy bears. "But people love it, and a lot of that stuff goes with flowers for some people."

In addition to negotiating balloons and bears into her business plan, Cole also draws upon her varied experience in the floral industry to support Tiger Lily Floral Design.

Since high school, Cole has worked in rose farm fields, as an organic gardener, and even worked as a botanist during an experiment at White Sands Missile Range, documenting the effect rockets had on the flora and fauna.

In 1996 she earned a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Oregon State University, but the need for a job eventually led her to Albuquerque.

"I knew I wasn't going to make gobs of money," she said. "It's something I was interested in, and I've always been a plant person."

Cole maintained focus for her shop despite having to work miscellaneous jobs, and at one point she even sold flowers out of her kitchen. Finally, in early 2003 she took ownership of her Nob Hill location on Central Avenue near Cornell Drive and Tiger Lily Floral Design began to blossom.

Degree needed?

While her academic background in ornamental horticulture is an advantage, Cole said it isn't a requirement to becoming a florist.

Being artistic and paying attention to colors is essential, she said.

"Most owners of flower shops will train employees themselves," said Melodie Petty, who after 17 years as an employee became owner of Mauldin's Flowers in Albuquerque.

If an employer doesn't offer training, there's Trim International Floral School in Albuquerque, where students learn about types of flowers, how to handle them, and how to display them in fresh, sympathy or wedding arrangements, Petty said.

Out of her 10 employees at two stores, Petty has three who trained at the school.

"You certainly must have thick skin to work in this industry," Cole said. "Every designer has a different style and not everyone is going to like your arrangements."

Dealing with `dumpage'

Whenever that happens and florists are left with unsold flowers, often it leads to what Petty calls "dumpage."

On an average week Petty said four 20- to 25-stem bunches see the dumpster.

That's the nature of a perishable product, said Jason Stephenson, branch manager at Denver Wholesale Flowers in Albuquerque, one of four wholesale floral dealers in the state.

Knowing how much perishable product to order is crucial, particularly during the Valentine's Day bombardment, he said.

"As a wholesaler we bring in 50 to 60,000 roses during a two week period before Valentine's Day," said Stephenson. "Two years ago, I brought in too much and threw away 5,000 roses."

By comparison, a wholesaler like DWF would order less than 1,000 roses on a normal week.

High cost

Since Valentine's Day always comes in the cold month of February, when daylight hours are short and increased heating costs hinder large crops, the supply of flowers isn't at a surplus and prices are higher, he said.

"People think we're trying to rip them off," said Petty. "It's about economy, demand spikes and the entire industry is put in a pinch."

Normally, roses at Mauldin's are $45 for a dozen, however, due to extra business expenditures during the holiday, Petty has to charge $85 for the same dozen during Valentine's Day.

The holiday forces growers to use more resources for growing the flowers, hire more labor to pick them, and rent more trucks to ship them, she said. Extra costs are passed on to wholesalers, then to retailers, and finally, to the consumer, she said. It's one day out of the winter when everyone wants flowers, said Jennifer Sparks, vice president of marketing at the Society of American Florists, a national trade association that includes growers, wholesalers and retailers.

"It's a time when most florists do eight to 15 times their normal business volume and meeting customer expectations isn't easy," she said.

Cole peels away another leaf on a white rose she is adding to the bouquet.

It's just past 9:30 a.m. Cole has yet to open the shop door, yet already she is contemplating the day ahead, mixing in thoughts on future business plans.

"I have an order from Oregon sitting at the airport for me," she said. "Ideally, I'd like to have a van someday, I would love to not have soil and flower bits in my car all the time."

Her personal 1995 Saturn wagon also pulls double duty as the company delivery vehicle.

The conversation shifts back to the approaching holiday rush.

"I'll have some help though," she said. "My mom takes the week off from work and dresses in heart outfits and wears heart antennae.

"People love that."