The Sunday Planner
Every Sunday: the buyer’s timeline for mass-market floral, with the holiday programs, farm commitments and trade shows to plan for, act on now, and still catch.
Updated Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026 · A new edition every Sunday
This Week: Thanksgiving Is 18 Days Out, Poinsettias Are Arriving, and Valentine’s 2027 Pre-Books Need Your Numbers
For mass-market floral, the fourth quarter is now pure execution. Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 26, and product needs to be in stores by Monday, Nov. 23. Poinsettias are arriving at the DCs alongside Thanksgiving volume, and the conversations happening with farms over the next few weeks will set Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day 2027. Here is the buyer’s timeline for the weeks ahead: what to get ready for, what needs your attention this week, and what you can still act on, all drawn from the SuperFloral Floral Events Calendar.
Pre-planning: What to get ready for
Valentine’s Day 2027 (Sunday, Feb. 14). A Sunday Valentine’s Day pulls consumer volume forward into Friday, Feb. 12, and Saturday, Feb. 13, and that changes everything upstream: store delivery windows, DC receiving dates, ship dates out of Bogotá and Quito, and how much product needs to be in stores and merchandised by Thursday. Build your sell-through plan around Friday and Saturday, then work backward to farm pre-books for roses, bouquets and consumer bunches. Lunar New Year falls a week earlier, on Saturday, Feb. 6, and competes for the same red product. Canada shares the date (Valentine’s Day in Canada).
Easter 2027 (Sunday, March 28). Easter comes early next year, which compresses the spring calendar. Confirm Easter lily, potted bulb, hydrangea and spring-blooming plant programs with your growers now, including ship weeks and store-level quantities, so that early-forcing schedules line up with a late-March holiday. Plan the handoff from Valentine’s Day to St. Patrick’s Day to Easter displays, since the gaps between them are short.
Mother’s Day 2027 (Sunday, May 9). Mother’s Day is the year’s other big volume holiday, in both the U.S. and Canada. Most farms want program commitments well ahead of spring, so start the bouquet, potted-plant and price-point conversations alongside your Valentine’s Day planning rather than after it.
January trade shows. Set budgets and book travel for the winter shows where buyers meet growers and suppliers: Landscape Ontario Congress in Toronto (Jan. 12–14), MANTS in Baltimore (Jan. 13–15), the Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE) (Jan. 20–22), ProGreen EXPO with its Cut Flower Courtyard (Jan. 26–28), IPM Essen in Germany (Jan. 26–29) and Christmasworld in Frankfurt (Jan. 29–Feb. 2), where next year’s holiday décor and seasonal programs are sourced.
Late-winter and spring industry events. Put these on the calendar: PLANTARIUM | GROEN-Direkt Spring Fair in the Netherlands (Feb. 2–3), Myplant & Garden in Milan (Feb. 17–19), the WFFSA Floral Distribution Conference (Feb. 28–Mar. 3), the Dutch Spring Trials (May 3–7) and IFPA The Floral Conference (May 19–23).
Do it now: What you need to be doing this week
Execute Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 26). Your Thanksgiving programs are now in motion. Confirm in-transit loads, store counts and ship dates with every supplier, and make sure fall bouquets, mums, centerpieces and harvest décor are scheduled to land in stores ahead of the heavy shopping days of Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 23–25. Check that store teams have display plans and pricing, and set a markdown plan for any product left after the holiday.
Confirm Christmas and poinsettia programs. With Christmas on a Friday and Christmas Eve on Thursday, the final shopping weekend is Dec. 19–20. Confirm poinsettia counts, sizes, colors and ship weeks with your growers, along with fresh wreaths, garland, holiday bouquets and amaryllis, paperwhite and other holiday plant programs. Make sure DC receiving schedules can handle poinsettias arriving in November alongside Thanksgiving volume. Plan a promotion around National Poinsettia Day on Saturday, Dec. 12.
Start Valentine’s Day 2027 commitments. Farms are planning their February crops now. Open pre-book conversations with your importers and growers, and share your Friday-and-Saturday volume plan so they can schedule cuts and ship dates around a Sunday holiday. The sooner your numbers are in, the better your chances on varieties and pricing.
Plan your December and January travel. The Fleuroselect Breeders & Distributors Conference in Germany (Dec. 2–3) and the January shows listed above are where 2027 varieties and programs get sourced. Finalize budgets and bookings now.
Sign up for November and December category briefings. Growers and breeders should note the AFE Grow Pro webinars on greenhouse temperature management (Tuesday, Nov. 17) and water treatment (Tuesday, Dec. 15), and the Fleuroselect Breeders & Distributors Conference in Germany (Dec. 2–3).
Not too late: It’s getting close, but you could still do this
Check store readiness for Thanksgiving displays. Make sure stores have display plans, pricing and clear instructions for fall sets, and confirm that any leftover Halloween product is marked down or pulled. Displays should go up in the week of Nov. 16.
Fill gaps in holiday programs. If your Thanksgiving or Christmas assortment still has holes, talk to your suppliers this week. Open product and short-notice add-ons get harder to find as November fills up.
Find every date above, and hundreds more, on the SuperFloral Floral Events Calendar. Running a trade show, open house or industry event? Add it there so mass-market floral buyers, growers and suppliers can find it.
What is the Sunday Planner?
The Sunday Planner is SuperFloral’s weekly floral holiday buying calendar for mass-market floral buyers, growers and suppliers. Every Sunday it looks ahead at the holidays and industry events that drive volume and sorts them into what to prepare for, what needs your attention this week and what you can still act on.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Sunday Planner updated?
Every Sunday. Each new edition replaces the last, so this page always shows the current week’s buying timeline.
How do I get the Sunday Planner by email?
Sign up here and it arrives in your inbox every Sunday morning.
Where do the dates come from?
From the SuperFloral Floral Events Calendar, which lists holidays, trade shows and industry events for the mass-market floral trade.
How far ahead does it look?
About five months, far enough to cover the farm bookings and program decisions behind Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day.
