Preparing for Valentine’s Day is a family affair for the Bauers, owners of Flowers By Bauers & Greenhouse in Jarrettsville. A staff of six spent Wednesday afternoon cutting flowers and piecing together arrangements inside the warm shop on Baldwin Mill Road, while outside, fresh snow blanketed the ground.

The Bauers have been in business for 50 years and have remained at the same location acquired by twin brothers Charles and Richard Bauer in 1975.

“My brother and I, we knew that we were going to be in the flower business at 15 years old. We were weird,” Charles Bauer said. The twin brothers are 1970 graduates of North Harford High School and both attended the University of Maryland to study horticulture. Richard Bauer also has a business degree.

Charles’ son, Matt Bauer, also a Terp, entered the business in the early 2000s and doubled the size of the family’s greenhouse operation. Matt spent a portion of Wednesday afternoon trimming rose stems, picking off their outer petals and arranging them in glass vases.

Valentine's Day arrangements by Flowers By Bauers & Greenhouses in Jarrettsville. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)
Valentine’s Day arrangements by Flowers By Bauers & Greenhouses in Jarrettsville. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)

Matt, a sixth-generation farmer in his family, said Valentine’s Day isn’t even the shop’s busiest holiday.

“The biggest holiday is Mother’s Day, because not everyone has a significant other. With Mother’s Day, everyone has a mother,” he said.

Bauer said orders for Valentine’s Day start to trickle in around Feb. 1 and remain steady until Feb. 13. Deliveries are made to local residents throughout the day on Friday.

After more than four decades of preparing and handling the influx of orders for Valentine’s Day, Charles and Matt noted the business’s most crucial adjustment was adapting to the online landscape, which expanded significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 80% of orders the shop receives are made through the Internet, Matt said.

While others, like his mother, Ann, prepare the flower arrangements by trimming stems, putting together flowers and foliage, and wrapping them in protective plastic, Matt monitors the shop’s computer system to approve incoming orders.

He estimated the shop receives an average of 100 delivery requests a day during the week of Valentine’s Day.

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