chrysanthemums, essential for All Saints Day

The chrysanthemum still remains a must-have for All Saints. According to the French Federation of Artisans Florists, 5.2 million French households, one in five, bought flowers for All Saints’ Day last year. Among the most purchased species, chrysanthemums were well ahead (67%), ahead of cyclamen and heather (7%).

“It’s a year that’s going to be good”

Loire-Atlantique has around ten major producers. “With this summer’s heat wave, the chrysanthemums were still a little late in mid-September, and there, it happened all of a sudden, within eight days. It’s a year that’s going to be good” explains Didier Delhommeau, president of the Federation of Horticultural Producers and Nurserymen of Loire-Atlantique.

The more expensive Chrysanthemum

At the head of Val Fleuri, in La Planche, in Loire-Atlantique, Didier Delhommeau produces 27,000 chrysanthemums a year. He had to increase his prices by 5 to 8% this year. The boss of Val Fleuri explains this increase with “the increase in labor, the cuttings which took 10%, the terracotta pots which took 35cts, and the cost of transport with the increase in the price of fuel”.