(CNN) – It is one of the busiest stretches of the year for florists, and with Valentine’s Day falling on a Saturday this year, many anticipate very brisk business to end the week.

It’s like February’s answer to Santa’s workshop: the back room of a florist’s shop during the run-up to Valentine’s Day.

Karen Fountain, president of northern Virginia’s Flowers-n-Ferns describes her operation as ‘organized chaos’. “We plan ahead. I looked at all of our ideas that we did from last year. We came up with different solutions to make things easier this year, I have more staff coming in Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday for the volume.”

She planned ahead, but many shoppers won’t.

Retailers estimate Americans will spend 2.1 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day flowers, and fountain says February 14th will be her busiest single day of the year. The most popular bloom: roses.

Fountain says, “We have to actually order our roses almost a month in advance, so I have to kind of go through last year’s orders, see what we had our customers requested, and kind of figure that out.”

Valentine’s Day demand, transportation and labor drive the price higher on the holiday.

Fountain says a single long-stem rose can be the most romantic gesture of all. But flowers by other names? Also, just as sweet. “Orchids, lillies, tulips, again, they’re another symbol of love, and some people don’t like pink and red, we recommend your oranges and yellows. Maybe sunflowers, maybe iris. There’s lots of different flowers out there.”

Picking up an order can save money on a delivery fee, and gives the opportunity to present a sweetheart’s flowers, in-person.