Who can put a price on love?
But sending these rare flowers for Valentine’s Day can be heartbreakingly costly.
Incurable romantics are spending upwards of $500 on exotic Japanese floral arrangements, and flower-industry experts say business is blooming.
Bouquets of aromatic sweet peas, five-petaled blue tweedia, and tightly furled ranunculus is nothing to sniff at for mixed arrangements starting at $125.
The pricey petals cost between $5 to $18 a stem. They are shipped from small family-owned flower farms on Japan’s southernmost island, Kyushu.
That’s where the region’s yearlong subtropical climate lends itself for the perfect growing environment, particularly in the popular tourist district, Miyazaki.
“All their flowers are almost perfect. They are treated like little jewels,” said Eileen Johnson, director of Flower School NY.