IRVINGTON — Central Indiana is in the middle of an extended stretch of days with below-freezing temperatures.
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The last time temperatures were above 32 degrees was around 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 22.
It's been over a week since then, with little relief in sight.
Florists like Melissa Smith and her team have to make do.
"Anytime that we go below freezing, it's always a concern for florists," Smith shared. "Our flowers do not like... they like to be cold, but not freezing."
Smith is a florist at George Thomas Florist in Irvington.
"When we receive flowers, we also have to be careful with unpacking them the right way, processing them the right way," Smith described. "Then we arrange them. We want to make sure they're all wrapped, so when it's below freezing, we have to double wrap, which takes double the time."
The shop was closed on Monday because of the extreme cold and snow.
When the shop closes for one day due to the weather, Smith and her team try to get deliveries done a day early.
Because the weather has been like this all week, they've had to go ahead with deliveries, although Smith says it has been a slower week.
Tissue paper is used to wrap the flower stems before they leave the building. Thicker brown paper goes over the tissue paper, almost like a coat.
"If it's not below freezing, I like to keep this open, just because it makes the presentation prettier," Smith said as she was folding the brown paper around a bouquet. "But for the cold weather, we go ahead and close this up."
Delivering fresh flowers in the dead of winter is another problem; even something as simple as loading the van takes extra time.
"You don't want to put a fresh arrangement into a cold vehicle," warned Smith.
What happens when people don't answer the door for deliveries?
"Our new normal is getting porch deliveries, but flowers you cannot leave on the porch," Smith said. "Even just ten minutes could do damage, so if they aren't home, we bring them back to the shop and then schedule re-delivery."
It's a lot of extra steps this week.
"Is it a hindrance? Maybe. However, I'd rather have a happy customer than a sad customer," Smith concluded.
Even though this weather has been brutally cold for everyone across central Indiana this week, we are still nowhere near record territory.
The longest time Indianapolis stayed below freezing temperatures was December 29, 1976, through February 1, 1977. This was a stretch of 35 days straight with temperatures below 32 degrees.
We will continue to monitor the forecast, as temperatures could stay below freezing into next week.
