On the 13th and 14th February, our busy roads become a little bit prettier, with temporary flower stalls erected every half a kilometer or so, sporting flowers on display and soft toys clutching hearts, hanging in protective plastic covers. If you walk into florist establishments, the rooms seem fuller and the array of roses wider.

“For Valentines’ Day, we order and sell about three times as many flowers as usual,” one florist told The Malta Independent. She explained that throughout the day, people come at all hours, and although roses are the most popular, they are not the only item which is sought after. “Sometimes people purchase plants or other flowers, especially if the roses have all sold out” she said. 

Asked for the most absurd order she had ever witnessed on Valentines’, the reply was a (perhaps overly-) flattering; “500 roses for one person.”

With only a tent for shelter, the flower sellers brave the winds and cold air as they fight to wrap flowers in foil-plastic and ribbon. Bouquets of roses are wrapped around street sign poles to signal to ongoing traffic that there is a flower stall located there.

One stall owner on the bustling Vjal L-Indipendenza in Mosta explained how each stall has their own location year after year. Besides having their loyal customers, other customers usually spot the stall whilst they are driving, and park for a few minutes to pop by. 

Now in their eighth year of business, the stall only works on two specific days of the year; Valentines’ Day and Mothers’ Day. However, there is no question as to which of the days is the preferred one for roses.

Cars zoom past the stall, with only a matter of metres until they reach the next one.  

Photos Baskal Mallia