Prince George, BC –  Today is the day of the rose…

It appears no other flower can hold a candle to the rose on this day of love.  Statistics Canada reports that for 2009, there were more than 12.8-million roses sold on February 14th – that represents more than one-million bouquets of a dozen roses each.

For Cindy Deschamps, Store Manager at Princess Flowers & Boutique, an extremely busy day lies ahead and she says it’s the shop’s long stem imports that ‘reign supreme’ with romantics looking to express their love.

Deschamps says she expects staff to be run off their feet between walk-in customers and phone calls looking for that special something that says it ‘all’ to their Valentine of choice. (At left, the Valentine’s tree outside the store on Victoria)

She says Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest times of the year, but unlike Christmas – which is spread over a week or two – the love bug hits February 13th and runs full-tilt until the close of business tonight.

The local florist says they have a large selection of exotics on-hand, to the standard collection of carnations and baby’s breath, and everything in-between, but the rose steals hearts today.