Florists

Love is in the air in Yousif Mohammed's shop. So is death, but that's OK, because Mohammed's business is selling flowers, and in Baghdad, where bouquets rarely top shopping lists these days, weddings and funerals are his mainstay. It wasn't always like this. Before the war, Iraqis loved buying fresh flowers to brighten up their homes and offices, or to present with a flourish to the objects of their affection.

The gig: Co-owners of Mark's Garden floral shop in Sherman Oaks, which is known for its work on weddings, including those of Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani, Heidi Klum and, last weekend, Ellen DeGeneres. Since the business opened in July 1993, the team has worked on each post-Academy Awards Governor's Ball. The shop handles more than 100 daily orders with eight delivery trucks, 45 full-time employees and a multimillion-dollar annual budget for flowers.

"FLOWER Confidential," a behind-the-scenes look at the cut flower industry, can be found in the gardening section of bookstores, but author Amy Stewart says it is not a gardening book. "It's the opposite of a garden book," she says. "It's about how cut flowers are not the flowers we grow in the garden."

Nothing says love more than a man who will argue with another guy over the last red rose in the cooler. Or a man who, as the flower shop closes, will shove cash through the gate begging to be sold a dozen. These are the kinds of things men do on Valentine's Day to avoid the couch that night. Just ask Denny Full, who is to Feb. 14 what Santa Claus is to Dec. 25. A busy man catering to the gift-giving needs of a desperate-to-please constituency.

Ex-teen idols may understand the vagaries of fame better than anyone. Just ask florist Michael Gray, 54, who starred as Billy Batson on the hit '70's TV series "Shazam!" His shag-haired puss graced countless fanzines alongside fellow heartthrobs such as Michael Jackson and Donny Osmond.

A studio head wants to send his big box-office star flowers after her newest movie rakes in $75 million over the weekend. Think a dozen long-stemmed roses will do it? Forget it. You might as well send smiley-face balloons and a Whitman's Sampler. In a city where appearances count, floral design has become an ultra-competitive, big-bucks (average arrangement $100; no upper limit), high-stakes business with constant pressure to come up with traffic-stopping, cutting-edge designs.

The flowers have left the building. The lilies had been planted the week after Labor Day in this foggy coastal town not far from the Oregon border. They grew 3 feet high in six long rows of matching black crates in the second bay of Greenhouse 98, where computers regulated their sunlight, their water, their fertilizer and their temperature for their total comfort.

For years, environmentalists have been tearing their hair out over that pernicious weed, the artichoke thistle, which invades wild lands throughout Orange County and crowds out native plants. But now, designer florists are finding a saving grace in the otherwise nasty plant. They're using the flower, in blossom right now, in their arrangements, where it makes a dramatic addition. Many high-end florists gush about the thistle's qualities, calling it "unique" and a "showstopper."

Successfully growing a small business has proven tougher than Bouquets of Blooms flower shop owner Dena Flekman expected. Her West Los Angeles store, nearing its fifth anniversary, has made it into the black and won standing orders from local businesses. And Flekman is eyeing her third small acquisition. But everything is not coming up roses. Sales have inched up slowly, just keeping ahead of the bills.

A move to ban flower sales at a planned downtown farmers market failed at this week's City Council meeting, despite the protests of local florists who said their businesses will suffer. "It's a competition thing," Councilman Harold R. Kaufman said Wednesday. "We should not be limiting competition. I feel the flower sales should be allowed at the market."