Lani Rochelle Guilbeau

Age: 31
Occupation: Owner, Fleur du Jour
Hometown: Baton Rouge

When your beloved flashes back with inward eye a hundred or a thousand tomorrows from now, will there be a dancing heart stirred by daffodils or lilies or a beautiful spray of baby’s breath?

Valentine’s Day falls on Friday this year, which means a rise in the numbers of beating hearts among those who are heading into local flower shops.

They will often tell their tales to the ones who deal in flora, pulling them into the courtship.

“When they do, we listen carefully, so we can get flowers to match their emotions and make suggestions based on that,” says Lani Guilbeau, owner of Fleur du Jour, the only downtown flower shop in Baton Rouge.

Guilbeau fell for flowers when she was in college and working at a shop. Now, it’s her passion.

“My favorite thing is when a bride cries when she sees her flowers, because she is so happy,” Guilbeau says.

A rose is a rose is a rose.

But don’t be bound by it.

She might want sunflowers.

Or a purple posey.

She might wish for black and white.

Glitter, even.

Guilbeau recently had a gent ask her to rise to that glimmery request. She wove shimmer into a fragrant bunch.

“When she goes to get married, she is inevitably going to have something with glitter in her bouquet,” Guilbeau says.

She prefers the greenery that gathers around the petals and is often overlookedbut makes a big difference.

Blossoms speak a certain language: Amaryllis for determination. Heather for good luck. Snapdragons can mean deception. Or graciousness.

Queen Anne’s lace for sanctuary. Carnations for motherly love.

Flowers work like stories.

Pressed over unfolding events, they knot together every sense to make what matters linger a little while longer.