By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Mylene Hinkle shows the selection of flowers in her
store's refrigerator.

Millennium flora
orders are blossoming

One floral manager has
the feeling 'it'll be a
prolonged Christmas'

By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

Mylene Hinkle, owner of Mylene's Floral Wholesale, has already received several orders from florists for pine, bamboo and chrysanthemums -- components of the Japanese New Year arrangement, "kadomatsu."

"It's a traditional sign of good luck for the New Year," explained Kathleen Yoshinaga, manager of Stanley Ito Florist, which annually receives orders for them.

She hesitated to say if kadomatsu this time would be bigger and better in honor of the new millennium -- but pointed out that size would be up to the buyer.

Yoshinaga does expect, though, that many more people will be hosting parties, and would combine Christmas with New Year's Eve festivities.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Mylene Hinkle displays some of the basic
ingredients used in making the
Japanese "kadomatsu," a traditional
New Year's arrangement.

"I have a feeling it'll be a prolonged Christmas," she said, which will add up to more gift baskets and flowers. Her company, for instance, receives many orders for roses to spruce up a house for a party, or as gifts for hostesses.

At Fujikami Florist, operations manager George Shikuzawa has taken extra precautions and set aside some 200 bottles of champagne in various types and vintages, from Korbel to Cristal. "It does tie up some financial resource, but we feel it's important," he said.

Though it was still a bit early to be hearing from party planners, Shikuzawa said, his company was poised for business with a liquor license to send out champagne baskets, and with the prized 1990 vintage champagnes on stock.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
An upclose look at a Hawaiian potpourri.

Another florist already thinking of New Millennium's Eve specials was Wes Hara, manager of Paradise Florist in Pearlridge. Through the shop's wire services such as FTD and Teleflora, pictures of New Year's floral arrangements have arrived. And he's already planting new ideas.

"We can find little premiums - hardware to put in it," Hara said. The addition of streamers, miniature champagne glasses, stars, metallic strips and gold-wired bows, he mused, will "make for a really elegant arrangement."

Flower farmers are also gearing up for the season, such as Kamuela Roses, exclusive grower for the three Paradise Florist shops. Farmers can time the rose crop to come in at the right time, Hara explained. If it gets cold, production could drop in half - but in cold weather, "flowers get longer, the quality is awesome."

In addition to the kadomatsu components, Hinkle also is getting requests for flowers in certain colors for New Year's Eve weddings to match golds, and oranges and reds.

And because she supplies hotels with Thailand orchids during Hawaii's winter months when production is low, plus imports flowers from Europe and South America, Hinkle harbors some Y2K computer concerns.

"What if there's a glitch with the airplane," she said. "We could lose 100,000 orchid heads in one crack."

Her other Y2K concern is for the cooler that keeps the flowers fresh in the company's 4,000 square foot warehouse. If the power dies though, Hinkle does have a generator for back-up, purchased some years ago.

But the prevailing hope for all, especially in light of the state's recent economic doldrums, was for better-than-average year-end business.

Said Shikuzawa, with optimism: "It's been down this year. I hope to return to the good old days. Hopefully, the millennium will signal a turn for the better."