With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, florists prepare for the busiest time in the floral industry. The employees of the Fresh Flower Market in Aurora design romantic displays from a delivery of more than 4,000 roses, Feb. 7. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel 
Tools and bouquet accoutrements sit at a work station at The Fresh Flower Market in Aurora. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel 
Maryam Moghaddam (left) and Kammi Good prep the cases of flowers, inspecting each bundle to ensure quality. The Fresh Flower Market received a delivery of more than 4,000 roses to accommodate the orders for Valentine’s Day. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel 
Brittney Haze (left) discusses bouquet options with customer Rich Maves to select the best combination for a bouquet for his wife with whom he has celebrated 23 Valentines Days. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel 
Kammi Good, right, inspects one of the many rose bunches which were delivered for Valentine’s Day arrangements. There are over 100 different types of roses but the most commonly used for the romantic holiday is the modern red rose. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel 
Kammi Good removes the stem ends from the bundles of roses before placing them in water and flower food which is a mixture of sugar, acid and bleach. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel 
Rose bunches of 50 lay in wait to become Valentine’s bouquets at The Fresh Flower Market. The independently owned florist will see an increase of business six-fold due to the annual day of romance. Photo by Veronica L. Holyfield/Aurora Sentinel
Florists at The Fresh Flower market in Aurora put the petals to the metal as Valentine’s Day approaches. The team will turn more than 4,000 roses into arrangements for what is one of the industry’s busiest times of the year.