A national shortage of flowers in the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic combined with flourishing demand is making operating a floristry store at Dubbo a "juggle".
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Irissa Knight has reported of a months-long scarcity of the petalled products that are her business's lifeblood.
Drought and bushfires had already left their mark before COVID-19 wreaked challenges felt throughout the industry, she said.
But as she told of the first signs of the situation easing, the founder of The Meadow Floral Design had bouquets of gratitude for the community that stuck by her.
'I'm just really glad and thankful we've been able to continue to operate, in whatever capacity that looks like, when so many other [businesses] haven't been able to," she said.
Ms Knight said when Australia's borders closed in March, it hit the supply of imported flowers, carried in on passenger flights.
They had made up a "huge part of the Sydney Flower Market", and as a result, variety had fallen to about one-third of what was normally available, she said.
While supply was impacted, a rising demand emerged as people looked for ways to stay connected during social isolation.
"The lead-up to Easter was really busy, because no one could visit anyone for Easter," Ms Knight said.
Bouquets were also popular for a May event.
"It meant that Mother's Day cleared pretty much everything out, so once Mother's Day was done, there was nothing left at the markets for refill, which was quite stressful," Ms Knight said.
"And we couldn't really take orders past that current day or the next day, because we didn't know if we were going to get anything at all.
"...So it was pretty hard to juggle, trying to fulfill the demand when there wasn't necessarily the product."
The Meadow has been committed to only taking orders it is confident in meeting.
"We've done our best to communicate the situation, and that has taken a lot of explaining to each person... it's our job to educate people in what's happening in our industry," Ms Knight said.
Ms Knight said she was thankful her suppliers in Sydney had not "forgotten about us".
A godsend had also appeared from within her own region.
Bilby Blooms, a grower of Australian natives at Binnaway and one of The Meadow's regular suppliers, had been a huge help, Ms Knight said.
"We are still really lucky Bilby Blooms have been supplying us natives during all of this, because all of his markets were cancelled, so they had product they could actually provide," she said.
The florist reported of being in touch regularly with other members of the industry in Dubbo, "just to check in to see how they're going, and we're all in the exact same position, so just to encourage each other".
Ms Knight is now seeing more supply return, "because some things are starting to come into season and a few more flights are starting to come in".
"The flowers themselves are beautiful, the quality is there, it's just not the quantity," she said.
The COVID shutdown, during which time the shopfront was closed for three weeks as The Meadow operated by deliveries only, and the supply issues, had provided lessons.
"I've learnt we can be adaptable in situations we're all unfamiliar with," she said.
"But that comes from the support of the community."